He's My Best Friend
by sparklingliza
Summary: It was the 2nd New Years that Amy had celebrated after landing in 1938. Trying to escape the party in her flat she decided to go for a walk to clear her head. To her surprise she found a Police box parked in the snow, but this box wasn't the same Tardis she expected to find. This story follows Amy, Rory, Rose, and many others as they go on an adventure they all thought impossible.
1. Chapter 1

She closed the door to the shouts and celebrations from inside of their apartment. Rory would be okay by himself while she cleared her head with a walk. It hadn't been that long ago that the two of them were celebrating the new year in the twenty first century and not the twentieth, like they were now. She closed her jacket tightly around her as she walked into the snow filled Central Park.

She walked along her favorite path that was usually empty hours before now, but because of the holiday she had ran into several people celebrating throughout the park. A cold wind blew against her as she wrapped her scarf around not only her neck but also her ears.

When she came to the fork in the road where she would normally turn right she ran into a couple kissing passionately in the middle of the path. Not wanting to ruin their celebration she deviated from her normal way and turned left to only stop almost immediately.

On the side of the road a little ways down was a dark blue police box. Her heart stopped and her breath caught. Forgetting about the cold she started to run to the box not stopping until she was standing inches from its front door.

Something was off. It wasn't the same police box and she could feel it. It was taller, the emblem on the right door was missing, and it was a darker blue. She knew it wasn't the same box, but that didn't stop her from pushing the door open.

Stepping inside rendered her immovable. It was bigger on the inside. This definitely wasn't the same Tardis that she had known, but it was a Tardis. She gathered herself together and walked into the center of the console room her grin growing more and more.

This inside looked familiar, like the desktop that the Tardis had before the one she knew, but even that was off too. Everything looked warmer, more lived in. Pacing around the console she realized that the room was warmer, compared to the lower temperature the time lord usually kept it on. The smell was also different, which surprised her. It smelled like flowers, flowers and chocolate chip cookies. The Tardis wasn't the one she knew, but it was one that was a home.

She turned as soon as she saw someone coming out of the hallway. They were carrying multiple boxes in front of them, so much that they couldn't see Amy and she couldn't see them. "Doctor, can you help me with all of the Christmas decorations that I took down from the library? I can't carry them all down to storage by myself." She started to walk down the stairs when she tripped and almost dropped the top two boxes on her pile.

Amy rushed over and took them off of her hands, and for the first time the two women were face to face. "Oh, hello," Rose said taking in the beautiful red head that just took the boxes from her. Amy studied Rose back. Her first impressions told her that she was pretty and blond and was traveling with the Doctor. Rose walked over to the seat next to the console and sat the boxes down. "Not to be rude or anything but, uh, what are you doing here?" Rose took the boxes from Amy and sat them next to the others.

"I saw the police box…and…is the Doctor here?"

"You know the Doctor?" Rose said taking Amy's coat and hanging over one of the giant coral columns.

"He's my best friend." Amy felt the shock of the whole situation disappearing and the reality of where she was hit her and she started to silently cry.

"It's okay," Rose walked over to her and gave her a large and warm hug. The girl that Amy had just met was so nice and so friendly to her. Why? All that Amy had done was to break into the Tardis and to start bawling like a little child. "I'm Rose." She said moving away from Amy but she still had her hands on Amy's shoulders supporting her. "The Doctor's my best friend too."

"Is he here? The Doctor?" Amy said wiping away her tears away with her sleeve. Rose looked at the young girl she looked so confused and lost.

"Um, not the Doctor you're looking for. I have no idea where he is. That's why we're here, we came to find him."

"We're?" Amy said as she was finally able to stop herself from crying.

"Yes, um, me and my Doctor, we're looking for him." Rose continued after seeing the confused look she was getting from Amy. "My husband, my Doctor, is a human clone of the real Doctor. You can call him John. I think he'll like it. But we were both stuck in an alternate dimension but for some reason this place and this time let us through. New York, 1941 right?" Amy nodded and Rose continued, "Anyway we came here so that we could find the Doctor. Speaking of which, DOCTOR!" She yelled.

"YEAH ROSE?!" A man's cry came from somewhere close by in the Tardis. _Rose_ she had heard that name before. The Doctor had mentioned her before. This blond girl was Rose, Rose Tyler.

"You're Rose?" Amy said getting a closer look at the girl in front of her. "Rose Tyler?" The Doctor had talked to Amy before about all of his companions. He talked about them all fondly, like Martha Smith the brilliant, Donna Noble the amazing, and Rose Tyler. He couldn't talk about her like her could the others. She knew about all of their adventures, except for Rose's. When she would ask him about Rose the Doctor would grow quiet and his eyes would fill with sorrow. _"All you need to know about Rose Tyler is that she was fantastic and brilliant and just amazing,"_ and that is all that he would ever say about her.

"What's wrong Rose…oh." A tall man walked into the room. He was tall, had messy hair, a red t-shirt, a pair of jeans, some white trainers, and his eyes looked just like the Doctors did. "Hello, I'm the Doctor." He flashed he large grin and Amy know that this man was the clone Rose was talking about.

"Your eyes. They're the same as his." And then the full truth of what was happening and where she was truly hit Amy and she fell backwards, her world going dark.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose and John moved quickly. John carried Amy's limp body to the med bay as Rose cleaned a spot for her in the room that had become filled with boxes and bins from their old house.

"I told you that it wasn't a good idea to put the boxes here, you should have taken them down to storage like I told you to." John sighed knowing the she was right as he laid the unconscious girl down on the now clear bed.

"But it's so far from the door and the medical bay was so much closer and we have so much stuff!" Rose sighed as she started to check Amy's vitals.

"You mean you have so much stuff, with your trainers collection."

"Don't give me that Rose Tyler; I had to haul in your leather jacket collection too."

"Oh yeah all five of them, ninety percent of the boxes in here are labeled the Doctors shoes and don't even get me started about our closet." Rose reached over several boxes trying to get to a cabinet in the corner of the room. "Can you get a blanket out of there? I can't reach over your shoes." She said turning back to John.

"Those aren't my shoes. See this one says," he read the label on the box out loud to Rose, "The Doctors shoes…well okay that one box was mine but this one isn't see it says…ugh never mind." He said reading another box that was labeled as his shoes. He reached over Rose and grabbed a blanket from the cabinet and handed it to her.

"I think she's coming to," Rose said laying the blanket down over Amy, as she started to wake up slowly.

"Who is she?" John said putting his arms around Rose as they looked down at the red headed girl.

"I have no idea. But she said that he was her best friend. And when she saw your eyes…she just passed out." Rose turned around and buried her face into his chest.

"I know they're gorgeous but...that is a new effect." Rose pushed herself back from him as he gave her a cheeky grin. She slapped him on the arm but then couldn't stop herself from laughing along with him.

"Uh…where am I?" Amy said sitting up slowly as Rose rushed over to her.

"You're in the med bay of the Tardis. Are you okay? You passed out and hit your head pretty hard." Amy rubbed the back of her head. Well that explained the horrible throbbing pain.

"Yeah, I guess. Wait what time is it?" She said looking down at her watch. "Oh my gosh its four in the morning! Rory must be worried sick." She stood up from the bed and started to walk out of the room stumbling from the pain in her head.

"If you don't mind…uh…I'm sorry I didn't catch your name." John said catching up to Amy and grabbing Amy's arm as Rose grabbed the other.

"Amelia Pond, but just call me Amy."

"Amelia what a brilliant name, like one out of a fairy tale." Amy stopped immediately and turned to John.

"What? What did you just say?"

"I, I just like your name it's very pretty."

"No that's not what you said. You said it was like a name out of a fairy tale." Amy stared at the man in front of her.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that—"

"No, oh no I'm not upset. That's just, it's what the Doctor told me the first time I told him my name. He told me it was a name that you would find in a fairy tale. You really are just like him, well except for the face."

"He regenerated?" Rose said breaking into their conversation, which reminded Amy that Rory was probably out looking for her as they spoke. She continued to walk down the hallway and then they arrived at the console room.

"Um yes, he's shorter now. And his chin is well…it's much larger, he also has this weird thing for bowties. Bowties and fezzes."

"Fezzes?" John asked doubting that the Doctor would love something that strange. "Well I guess they are cool. Bowties are cool too so it makes sense." Amy stopped again to stare at John before resuming her walk to the front door.

"Amy where are you going? You just passed out you're in no condition to go out." Rose said walking in front of her, blocking Amy's path.

"I've been missing for four hours. I never told my husband that I was leaving. He must be worried sick I have to go and find him." Amy opened the door and then turned around back to John and Rose. "You can't leave. You just can't I have to find him too, please just don't go. I'll go and get Rory and then we can leave. Just please, please don't leave without me." Rose looked over at John and he gave her a nod.

"We're not letting you go out there alone. We're going with you." Rose looped her arm through Amy's as John looped his arm through her other arm. "And Doctor, don't forget to lock the Tardis again." Rose said looking over at John who blushed embarrassed. "Not that we didn't mind you coming in, but it could have ended up differently if someone else had decided to come in." John locked the Tardis and then the group of three went out in search of Amy's husband, Rory.


	3. Chapter 3

He stood out on the dock that Amy liked to come to when she wanted to be alone. It was secluded and he knew it was somewhere she thought he didn't know about, but he did. She came here often, especially after she had followed him back to 1938.

She had acted like it was the best decision that she could have made, but he knew that it was killing her. He let out a deep breath that he could see in the cold and turned around to try another place. Amy had never disappeared for this long and it was scarring him.

He tightened his coat around him and stepped back out onto the path that he had started on and decided to try her favorite diner. It only took him five minutes to get from the spot in the park to the diner. It was something that Amy loved about New York. Everything was close by; she wasn't someone that was great at waiting. Well waiting for most things.

He pushed the door open and the warm air welcomed him into the diner. Almost sweating from the change in temperature he took off his gloves and coat and walked up to the counter. "Hey British where's Scottish?" The fry cook asked him in a thick New York accent.

"I don't know, I thought you might know Mike. I already looked in the park and the library is closed this early in the morning, so I didn't know where else to look." The man behind the counter finished the fries he was cooking and walked over to Rory. The diner was empty except for a couple in the corner ending their night and a police man getting his cup of coffee before starting his early shift.

"Wait, you don't know where she is? I haven't seen her Rory. Have you tried the flower market down the street? She's always telling me about some new flower that she saw down there, sometimes she brings me a few to put next to the cash register for the misses." Rory nodded and then started to put his gloves back on. "Hold on Rory you look frozen do you want a cup of Joe? Free of charge."

"No thanks Mike, I really need to find Amy. I'm worried she's found some trouble, she's great at that." He put his coat back on and then slipped back into the freezing cold January air. The flower market, it surprised him that he hadn't thought of it earlier. She was always bringing home flowers, especially blue ones, to put in their kitchen. He waved down a taxi and directed him towards the market.

The ride was quick and only took him a matter of minutes to make it to the enormous flower market, in one of the corners of Central Park. He paid the taxi and then stepped out to hundreds of flowers being unloaded in the freezing cold from greenhouses and far off warm places to be sold to those that wanted a happier day.

He walked through market and didn't spot Amy so he decided to make his way back to their apartment to see if she had come home. Before he left he stopped in front of a vender that was selling dark blue pansies and bought a small bouquet for his wife for when he finally found her. Afterwards he walked the ten minutes back to their apartment building and waited patiently for the elevator.

He really hoped that Amy was back home. Not that he minded waiting for her, he was just worried. The elevator opened and he stepped on pressing the button that would take him up to their twentieth floor apartment. Jazz music flowed through the elevator as it slowly inched up to his flat. That was something that he truly did miss about 2012, elevators that moved faster than walking up twenty flights of stairs.

He finally made it to his floor and started looking for his keys while he walked around the corner to their door. He was surprised to see it was opened and he rushed in to see if Amy had come home. He was shocked to not see Amy in their living room but a couple that he had never seen before.

"Amelia, I think I found Rory!" The tall man shouted into the bedroom. Amy came out carrying two suitcases smiling ear to ear.

"Rory! I hope you weren't too worried! I passed out so I lost track of time. Oh are those for me?" He stood unable to process everything that was happening as Amy rushed over and took the flowers from him. Who were these people? Where did Amy find them at four in the morning? Where was she going? Was she giving away their suitcases again? She passed out, was she okay?

"Amy, what's going on? Where were you? Who are these people?" Amy opened up one of the suitcases and started to fill it with the pictures around their home.

"Oh well this is Rose and John. John, do you think I'll need to bring more than a few changes of clothes?"

"Um, well if you run out of clothes the Tardis always has something you can change into. And hello," he said turning to Rory, "This is Rose and I'm the Doctor," The blond girl next to him elbowed him in the side, "err no I'm John, sorry forgot about that."

"Amy what's going on, where have you been?" She walked passed him and grabbed the clock off of the wall and walked back to the suitcases and started to try to squeeze it in.

"I've always loved this clock; don't want to leave it that would be such a waste of a great clock." She finished packing the suitcases and handed one to Rory and the other one to John. "You don't mind carrying this do you John?" The tall man shook his head no and Amy started to turn off all of the lights in the apartment. "Don't just stand their Rory we have a time lord to find."

"Amy Pond stop moving around and tell me what in the world is going on. You disappear for hours and then come back and pack our suitcases and expect me to come with you and these two strangers who somehow know about the Doctor to who knows where. Amy please just tell me what is going on." Rory said placing the suitcase on the ground and setting his wife down on the sofa.

"Well this is John, who is a clone of the Doctor from the past. And the blond girl is his wife Rose Tyler. They have their own Tardis and they're looking for the real Doctor and they're going to take us with them to find him. Can we leave now Rory? Please?" Rory processed all of the things Amy had quickly told him, and then turned to look at Rose.

"That's Rose? Rose Tyler?"


	4. Chapter 4

They walked in front of the new couple that was going to be joining them in the Tardis. She held his hand tightly as the frigid wind blew against them. It was one of her favorite cities. She had never told him that, but she assumed that he already knew. It reminded her of apple grass.

The man next to her wasn't the same man that she had fallen in love with, but this man was the man she would love for her entire life. He was the man that loved her enough to stay with her forever.

She knew that the Doctor could never love her the way that John did. Some might think that her choosing John over the Doctor was selfish. But the Doctor left her in the alternate world and had broken her heart all over again.

It had seemed impossible to pick up all of the pieces of her heart that had shattered from being left behind. But slowly, so painfully slowly John had picked up the pieces and glued them together with so much detail that there were barely any cracks left.

John had fixed her and had loved her unconditionally, which is something the Doctor never did. It took him five years to fix her so that she could love the man that promised to never leave her behind like the time lord did.

It took her months to even leave her room after the day they returned to Pete's world. The depression and despair enveloped her so heavily. He had left her, after she had spent so long trying to find him.

She never let anyone in her room except for her mother. Pete and John did not see her for three months after she locked herself up. It had eaten John up. Each day he would come to the Tyler mansion from his flat just to sit in the living room for the entire day and wait for Jackie to tell him that Rose wouldn't come out today and that she didn't seem to be getting better. It was killing him.

One day this all changed. Rose had thought that she was the only person home because Jackie had told her that she was going with Pete and Tony on a business trip to Paris. Out of hunger Rose left her room to what she thought would be an unoccupied kitchen.

She walked into the room and stopped dead in her tracks. He was just sitting there. Eating a bowl of cereal with his back turned to the door. She couldn't believe that he waited for her. It had been months. She stood there for several minutes just watching him eat before she had the courage to speak to him. _"You waited for me?"_

It was the first thing she had said to him since that day on the beach and he almost didn't believe she was there. He stood up and just looked at her.

She looked horrible, her eyes had dark circles under them, her skin was pale and almost transparent, and her hair was tangled and knotted. He hadn't seen anything so beautiful since the day she locked herself up in her room. _"I told you that I would spend my life with you and I would never leave you and I really did mean it."_

She had started to cry after he said that. Afraid that she was going to retreat back into her room and he would never see her again John gathered her into an enormous embrace.

She cried into his chest for hours, but he didn't want to ever let her go in fear that he would lose her again. _"Say it again."_ Rose said to him after she had stopped crying.

_"Say what again Rose?"_

_"What you said on the beach."_

_ "I love you."_

_ "Do you? Do you really love me?"_

_ "Oh Rose I love you more than anything and I will never leave you."_

_ "Promise?"_

_ "Promise."_

And he had kept his promise to her. He had never left her, never gone on a trip without her since that day. Whenever he went to the store or to get fuel for the car he took her with him. When she went to buy clothes he would come just to hold her bag.

Jackie referred to them as being "joined at the hip" but the truth of it all was that John was too terrified to leave anywhere without her. He loved her so much he could never live without her again.

He looked over at Rose, walking next to him on the streets of New York. It was one of her favorite cities and he hoped she wasn't upset about his habit of gathering hitch hikers. Seeing her shiver he took of his scarf and wrapped it around her.

"Aren't you cold?" She asked him after he put it on her.

"Nah, I'm fine." He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and they walked into Central Park.

Rory looked at the couple in front of them. Rose Tyler had been everything that Rory had expected. She was beautiful and kind. Amy didn't know that Rory had asked the Doctor about Rose before, when she hadn't there.

_"Sometimes when you love something, it's hard to let it go Rory. And it hurts to remember, but she was fantastic. Rory don't you ever, ever let go of Amy. As long as you live, because it shouldn't hurt to remember it should make you happy, and Amy makes you happy."_

He had loved this woman so much, but he had to let her go so that she would be happy. It was something that Rory could never do; let Amy go, even if it was what was for her best. He was too selfish to be that good.

"So that's the legendary Rose Tyler." He said turning to his wife.

"Is she what you expected?" Amy said glancing from the couple in front of them back to Rory.

"Yeah, a real heart breaker."


	5. Chapter 5

The minute they walked into the Tardis Rory could tell it was different. "Something's…off," He said walking around the console, "it' more human."

Rose and John shared a look as she began to leave to go to the kitchen to make a fresh kettle of tea. "That's because John is more human than the Doctor, and of course I helped in designing this Tardis as well. I'm going to go make some tea if anyone wants any."

"I'll help you Rose," Amy said following Rose down the hallway to where the kitchen was.

"So, John is it?" Rory asked. John nodded as he started to turn knobs and pull levers. "So how did you get here? The Doctor said it was impossible to get the Tardis back here."

"Maybe for his Tardis, but for Rose and me it wasn't as much as going forward or backwards, but more like shifting sideways. So it was much easier to get into this time period. The tricky thing is going to be leaving." He started to set coordinates into the console and turned back to look at Rory. "Where do you think we should start first?"

"Well, we could always start with River; she would probably know where he is."

"River?"

"River Song."

"Like River Song the archeologist?"

"Yeah, she's our daughter and the Doctors wife." John stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Rory.

"His wife? The Doctor is married?" He glanced back over to the hallway that Amy and Rose had disappeared through, "Well that's not good."

"Why not? Why can't he be married to Melody err River?" Rory was upset by how John had reacted to the news of their marriage. If Rose had moved on why couldn't the Doctor? John let out a deep sigh and rotated around to look Rory directly in the eyes.

"Have you ever dated someone and then they broke up with you even though you loved them unconditionally? And after they break up with you, you move on and find someone else, but then you find out that they are married and happy and it still hurts you. It still hurts because you wonder what was wrong with you, because they could never love you. That's how Rose will feel when she finds out about River, and she will be utterly and completely devastated." John turned sorrowfully back to the console.

"Then why did you come? Why didn't you just stay in the alternate world if you were both happy there?" The Doctor looked back at Rory and sighed deeply.

"Why did you come, aren't you happy here?"

"I guess we came to find the Doctor because, because well Amy misses him."

"How do you think Rose feels? She misses him too, and I have a horrible pit in the bottom of my stomach telling me something is wrong. Time lord consciousness I think, or something like that. All I do know is that I need to find the Doctor because something is going to happen." There was a long pause before Rory interrupted.

"We should try the jail River is in."

"She's in jail? Why?"

"It's a long story really."

"Summarize."

"She's in jail because she killed the Doctor." John's concerned look made him continue quickly. "But she didn't really kill the Doctor she shot a robot that was identical to the Doctor so he didn't actually die. And she only shot him because the silence made her, because they stole her as a baby from us, and trained her to kill the Doctor. So she's only in jail because everyone thought that she killed him when she really didn't."

"Well…okay then." John finished putting the coordinates into the Tardis and then yelled down the hallway, "AMELIA, ROSE WE ARE ABOUT TO LEAVE. YOU MAY WANT TO BRACE YOURSELVES!"

"Stop shouting side burn man, we're right here." Amy said stepping into the console room with Rose right behind her.

"Side burn man?" John asked turning around to look at Amy.

"No you're right it's not very good. I'll keep working on it."

"Okay...well like I was saying brace yourself!" He pulled up one of the levers and the entire Tardis shook so violently that Rory and Amy fell into the seat behind them and John and Rose both fell onto the floor.

"Well your driving isn't much better in this regeneration then it is in your eleventh." John's eyebrows rose up at what Amy had said and then everyone but him started to laugh.

"I thought you liked my driving," John said turning back to Rose who was still laughing.

"No, no Doctor it's fine but you are a horrible driver. Tardis, car, scooter you're pretty rubbish at it all, but I love you all the same."

"No wonder you never let me drive." Rose nodded and walked over and gave John a kiss before running to the doors.

"Can we go out? Please?" Rose said pulling at the handles.

"Rose before we leave, there is something you should know," John walked over to her and pulled her back to the chair where he sat her down, "something about the Doctor."


	6. Chapter 6

She sat in silence, she didn't look up, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. He was married? He couldn't even tell her that he loved her and had married someone else.

"Rose let's go." John said grabbing her hands and leading her forward. She knew that she just had to accept that he was married. It just stung. She wrapped her arms around him as he led her forward.

He knew that she was crying. It was silent and her body barley shook. But she was experienced at it and John had held her enough times when she had been crying to be able to tell when she was.

"Doctor?" She looked at him as they walked out of the Tardis and into the middle of the jail in search of River Song. "Did you love me before you were John and you were still a time lord?" He looked down at her and smiled sadly.

"Rose Tyler, I loved you the first time I told you to run." She was silent and just hugged his waist tighter.

"This is her cell." Rory said turning back to look at Amy. "Are you ready?" Amy's smile was enormous.

"I am more than ready. John can I barrow your sonic screwdriver?" John reached over and handed the screwdriver to Amy. She used the sonic on the door and it quickly opened silently to reveal a woman sitting on a bed writing in a dark blue journal. The group was silent for several seconds before Amy spoke up, "Melody?"

The woman glanced up. She didn't seem to believe what she was seeing. "Amy? Rory!" She stood up and rushed over to her parents. Amy threw her arms around her daughter crying with joy.

After they separated she turned to look at Rory. "Hello dad." She smiled and then the two hugged. The three were all crying happily.

"Oh Melody this is John and Rose. They took us here." Amy quickly summarized everything that had happened since she found the Tardis in the park.

"River Song," River said introducing herself and sticking her hand out to John.

"Oh I know Professor Song. Believe me I know who you are." He shook her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back and then looked at Rose.

"Oh Rose Tyler, you're just as beautiful as he said. I never expected to have the privilege of meeting you." Rose could only meekly smile back.

John walked behind the group and started to usher them out of the room. "Just in case you forgot we still have a time lord to find. Professor, do you have any ideas where we could look?"

"We could try a few of some of his favorite places. A good place to start would be the diner we went to after that day in Utah. You know the one I'm talking about," She said turning to Amy and Rory who nodded in agreement.

"Well then let's go." John led the group out of the cell and back to their Tardis, never letting go of Rose's hand.

"Alright everyone on, Rory, River, Amelia, Rose, and me," he said everyone's name as they walked through the door. "So now where?"

"I've got this John." River walked over to the console and started to flip levers and set coordination's.

Rose leaned over to John and whispered into his ear, "So she drives the Tardis too."

John's eyebrows arched upwards as he watched River control his ship.

"We're here." River said and then started to leave the Tardis.

"She drives the Tardis and is better then you at it." Rose said as John quickly followed River out, still not letting go of Rose's hand.

"Wait how did you do that? How did you land it without you know the wheeer wheeeer wheeeer sound?" River turned around and squeezed John's cheeks and looked deeply at his face, which made Rose tense.

"You really are his clone. You have the same eyes, and you also leave the parking brake on." She turned back around and walked into the diner followed closely behind by Rory and Amy.

"Well then, we should go in shouldn't we?" John said, swinging Rose's arm back and forth, enjoying the time that they had alone for the first time in what seemed like years.

"Do you think he'll be here?" Rose said leaning backwards to peer into the window.

"Only one way to find out."

"Let's go in," she turned to grab the door and John pulled her back.

"We'll go in, in a minute." He pecked her on the lips.

"One minute."

"Oh Mrs. Smith do you know that I love you?"

"You do Mr. Tyler?"

"To infinity and beyond, oh wait is that from something?" He kissed her.

"Yes it's from Toy Story." He kissed her again.

"Is it?" He kissed her one more time.

"It is. It's been a minute." Rose took his hand and led the pouting man into the diner to see the group of three sitting at a table, with no time lord in sight.

"Well where next or when next?" Rory asked turning to John.

"We could try my garden," Amy said, "the day after we were sent back." Rory reached over to Amy and grabbed her hand.

"Well then let's go." John said as he left the diner with Rose in tow.

"Have you noticed," River started, "That they are never apart."

"I did," Amy agreed, "They are always touching unless they're in the Tardis. Even when they are, they're never more than a few rooms apart."

"It's like they're afraid to leave each other," Rory said as he stood up and then helped Amy out of the booth.

"I would be afraid too, after everything that happened to them," Amy stood up and turned to look out the window at the couple climbing in the police box.

"What do you mean?" River looked at Amy.

"He never told you did he? What he did to her? How he broke her."


	7. Chapter 7

"What do you mean by how he broke her?" Rory said turning to Amy.

"She told me about how he left her. About how far she came just to find him, and then he left her."

"He gave her up, if anything the Doctor should be the one that was broken." Rory said as they left the diner and started to head towards the Tardis.

"The Doctor? But he chose to leave her, she didn't have a choice in being trapped in an alternated world."

"He left her so that she could be happy."

"You don't think it was a possibility to, oh I don't know; take Rose and the clone with him, instead of leaving them trapped behind."

"Enough, you two. They're both broken." River interrupted for the first time since the discussion began. "Now we are going to go into a Tardis filled with broken people to go and find a very broken man to try and make all of these people a little less broken. So I suggest Mom and Dad that we drop the subject and go and find my husband." Amy shot Rory a look, they same look she gave him every time they had been scolded by their own daughter.

They all walked back to the Tardis to see Rose sitting on the chair by the console with John lying on his back fiddling with something under the console. When the other passengers walked in he stood up and turned to them.

"Since I have no idea where to go and River you seem to know how to fly her," he hit the console lovingly, "why don't you take the helm?"

River walked over to the controls and started to fly the ship. In a matter of seconds they were landed again. "We're here."

John seemed to be somewhat annoyed at the fact that River was a better driver than he was which wasn't helped by the fact that Rose elbowed him in the side and started to laugh at the fact that he was sulking.

They left the Tardis and all walked out single file into the garden behind Amy's childhood home.

"I guess he isn't here," Amy turned and started to walk back into the Tardis.

"He might have been," Rose said trying to comfort Amy. "We might have just gotten the timing wrong."

"I hope you're right." Amy walked over to the porch of her old house and sat down covering her face with her hands.

John shoved his hands into his pockets, "I'm going to go for a walk around. "See if I see anything." He took one of his hands out of his pocket and reached it out towards Rose and wiggled his fingers. She grabbed it and the two walked off back towards the garden.

Rory sat down next to Amy and River sat down on the other side. "Don't worry Amy; I'm sure we'll find him." Rory said trying to comfort her.

"It's just it's not like we are trying to find him somewhere, but we're trying to find him somewhere and some when. It just feels impossible."

'Nothing's truly impossible Amy. Not when the Doctors involved." River said standing up, "I'm going to see if Rose and John have found anything." She left walking in the direction that they had gone.

It was spring and everything smelled like flowers. The wind blew slightly just enough to push her hair in front of her face. She had been to this house so often when she had been growing up with Amy and Rory.

She walked over to one of the trees near the side of the house and traced over her initials, that were carved into it, with her fingers.

Walking past the tree she found the bench where she and Amy would sit for hours as teenagers and talk about boys and about Rory. It made her smile all of the memories that surrounded this house.

As she finished lapping the house, she saw Rose and John sitting together on the same swing that Rory had proposed to Amy on.

They looked happy. Even though the Doctor leaving Rose behind had torn her apart River knew that the Doctor had given Rose something that he could never give River. He had given her a life with him, a life where they would grow old together, and that showed River how much he truly loved Rose.

She walked over to them, "so did you find anything?"

"No unfortunately, but I guess we can leave now if you want to." John said standing up.

"Well, we're all pretty tired I think we could all use a nights rest."

"Alright then we'll continue this search in the morning." The group all went back into the Tardis to try to sleep.

* * *

"You know it's weird not having our room in the Tardis," Rory said rolling over in the bed to look at Amy.

"Ya, this room is just so bare." They were staying in one of the guest rooms that John and Rose had made for their Tardis. "I'm ready to find the real Tardis and the Doctor. I miss them both."

"Me too Amy, me too," He rolled back over and flipped the light off, "hopefully tomorrow we will find them."

"Yeah tomorrow."

* * *

John sat reading a book in his bed with Rose next to him staring up at the ceiling, try to sleep. "You know what I love Rose?" She turned over so that he could see him.

"What do you love?"

"I love trainers and bananas and my Tardis and my long coat, and my blue suit, and you."

"Oh and which do you love better me or your trainers." She said and then smiled with her tongue barley sticking out of her mouth.

"Ohhh that's a tough question, but in a pinch I'd probably have to choose you."

"Well that's good I was scared for a second there that you would choose the shoes."

"It's because they're brilliant shoes."

"Not as brilliant as I am?"

"Nah, not even close," he shifted over so that he could see her more clearly, "Rose, no matter what happens in the next few days just please remember that I love you. I love you so much."

"I kno Doctor, I love you too." She yawned and then nestled herself into the space beside John, wrapping his arm around her and then instantly fell asleep.

He watched her as her chest gradually went up and down. He watched her sleep until it was time to wake up.

"Rose," he said stroking her face, "it's time to get up."

She sat straight up and turned to look at John, "I know where to look." She stood up and pulled on a t-shirt and jeans and walked out into the hallway. "Well don't just sit there, come on," she said coming back into the room. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of bed.


	8. Chapter 8

She took his hand as they ran through the hallways. He couldn't help but stare at the woman in front of him. In many ways she was the same as she was the first time he met her. The first time he told her to run.

That time he grabbed her hand and told her to run, but this time it was her turn. Her hair was still the same color and had the same smell, her eyes were still the same vivid light brown, and her smile was the same one that had kept him going through some of his darkest days.

Their lives had changed so much in the past few years. He remembered the day he had proposed to her. It had been the day that he had finished their Tardis.

He hadn't told her that he had taken a trip first to test it out, before they left, a trip to set everything up. He still remembered her smile the first time she walked into the finished Tardis.

He led her in and sat her down on the chair next to the console. He walked behind her and pulled out a handkerchief and tied it around her eyes.

_"What are you doing?"_

_ "You'll see, just trust me."_ He put the coordinates into the Tardis and the started off, on their first trip together in their Tardis

The landed gently and he walked over to her and took her hands and led her to the front door. He walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders and led them into the almost empty room.

From when he had been there only an hour before, on his test run, there was an elegant table with fresh roses and beautiful dishes that was set in the middle of the room.

He guided her into one of the two chairs and then walked behind her and started to untie the handkerchief, _"Don't open your eyes until I tell you to."_ He finished taking it off and then turned her chair towards the wall that was made completely of glass.

_"Okay, open your eyes."_ She did and then stood up immediately, her hands covering her mouth.

_"Oh Doctor this is platform one!"_ She walked forward and placed her hands on the window, barley able to believe that she was seeing this again. She continued to look out the window at the sight that she saw so long ago, not seeing John get down on one knee.

_"Well, it was your first trip in the old Tardis so I thought it would be a good first trip in this one."_

_ "Oh it's so wonderful. I can't believe you thought of this. What are we a few hours before the past us?" _She turned around her and saw John on one knee holding up a ring box.

Her hands rushed to cover her mouth again as John began to talk, _"Rose Tyler I have loved you for so long. Longer then you could've known. I've met so many people, but I have never met anyone so beautiful or brilliantly fantastic as you are. I've traveled the stars and seen so much, but I would give it all up just to be with you. _

_ "I've lived without you and I could never do it again. I want to be with you forever. Rose Tyler will you marry me?"_

She was crying and a large smile grew across her face. She nodded as she started to laugh, _"Yes, yes a million times yes!" _He took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger and then stood up.

Without even a second to breath Rose's arms were around him. She kissed him passionately as he picked her up and swung her around not able to stop himself from smiling under her lips out of pure joy.

_"So, what's for dinner?"_ She said sitting down minutes later after he had placed her back down.

_"Oh for you future Mrs. John Smith only the finest,"_ he removed the silver lids that were covering their plates, _"fish and chips."_

She laughed instantly before taking a fry and dipping it into the ketchup, _"My favorite."_

_ "I know."_

She was still the same girl that he had proposed to so long ago. She had also matured and grown.

She was so much more than she had been not only when he had first met her, but since the day they had been left together on that beach.

He loved the girl that was pulling him through their Tardis so much that he couldn't help but hope that they wouldn't ever find him.

But he knew they would, because she was determined and once Rose Tyler wanted something you couldn't stop her. He just didn't want him breaking her heart again, or worse capturing it.


	9. Chapter 9

They were alone in the console room. "Rose should we wake the others up?' John said looking down the hallway that led to the guest rooms.

"No, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. Can you leave the brake off so that they don't wake up from the sound?"

"But Rose that takes all of the fun out of it." He said as he put in the time and place she had given him. It landed and Rose turned back to John.

"No matter what happens out there Doctor, I love you. I love you more than I could ever love anyone else. Don't forget that."

John grabbed Rose around the waist and pulled her to him. "I will never forget that. To the day I die Rose Tyler," he kissed her and then wrapped her in a large embrace. "Are you ready?" She nodded and he let go of her. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, just don't let me out of your sight." She opened the door to the Tardis and stepped out onto the grass.

She noticed for the first time that she had forgotten shoes, but she didn't care at that moment.

She saw him sitting there. He sat on the grass in front of her by himself. His hair blew in the wind as he just stared at the city in front of him.

It reminded him of so much. New York. He missed them. He missed all of them. He laid down in the grass and looked up at the sky.

The smell was still same as it had been when he had first shown her this city; the apple grass still smelled identical. It should've smelled the same because it was the same day and the same grass. He and Rose were in the hospital right now saving lives, while he just sat around and sulked.

What he would give to see her one more time. He sat back up and placed his face in his hands and took a deep breath.

She walked down to him silently. Nearly a step away from the man see could feel that this was him. Amy was right his chin was much bigger. Finally she decided she had to say something.

"You don't mind if I sit here do you?" She said when she plopped down on the ground next to him.

"Nah it's a free world isn't it?" He looked up from his hands at the city, "it's beautiful isn't it?" Not realizing who was next to him, or even bothering to look.

"It's one of my favorites. But it reminds me too much of cats for some reason." The Doctor laughed, it had been so long since he had done that.

"I'm the Doct−," he started his hand out reached to shake whoever's hand he was talking to.

"The Doctor I know." He couldn't move. Rose Tyler was sitting next to him. She was sitting next to him and had the same smile she used to have, where her tongue poked out through her teeth.

"Rose?" He said and then quickly stood up, his eyes never leaving her.

"Hello." She said standing up next to him her grin growing as she dusted her hands off on her jeans.

"What, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be saving the hospital from evil cats?"

"Nah already did that."

"Then…are you, are you really here?"

"Do you know how long it took me to find you? Not only did I have to cross from an alternate world but I had to travel all over this one in search of you."

"Rose Tyler?"

"The one and only. Well, probably not the only person with that name but the one and only bad wolf." Suddenly without another word he hugged her.

"Oh Rose Tyler I've missed you so much." She had started to cry, but she was happy this time and not sad.

"I've missed you too Doctor." They stood there hugging for several minutes before John decided to go and say hello.

When he was walking down the hill the Doctor turned and smiled at him. "Oh, hello handsome! Look at you, you're ageing. Looking a bit more gray up top."

John's eyes widened as looked at Rose who only smiled as shook her head no. John tried his best to not look jealous of the Doctor but he felt like he was failing miserably.

"So you built the new Tardis! I like it. You made it a police box too?" they looked back at the small blue box.

"It didn't seem right to make it anything else." John said shoving his hands into his pockets and swaying back and forth on his feet.

"So what do you think of the bowtie?" The Doctor asked John.

"Well…bowties are cool."

"Exactly! You know I kept on telling that to Amelia, but she would never listen."

"Oh my gosh!" Rose started to run up the hill back towards the Tardis.

"ROSE where are you going?" Both men yelled in unison.

"To get the Ponds!"


	10. Chapter 10

Rory felt Amy moving around in the bed. She was having the same nightmare again. Rory felt her kicking, trying to run away. She had the same nightmare every night for the past two years.

She turned over in her sleep and before Rory could move out of the way she kicked him again. He slid out of bed and moved over to the chair next to the bed dragging one of the extra blankets from on top of it.

He wrapped the blanket around him and watched his wife twist and turn in the bed, knowing that it was impossible to wake her up when she was like this. It killed him to know what she went through every night, but hopefully it would all end soon.

It felt like she was there again, running, just running not able to stop. They were behind her and each time she looked back they were closer.

She knew that she shouldn't turn her back to them that she shouldn't take her eyes off of them but she couldn't stop running she had to find him.

She called for him, because she knew that he was the only one who could help her, who could stop them.

_"Doctor! Doctor please! Just help me!" _she saw the huge wall that loomed over the darkness around her. She knew that there was no way to get past it except for the door that was always locked.

She reached the wall and turned around and saw that they were closer now and she only had a matter of minutes to get through the wall.

_"Doctor, Doctor please let me in! Open the door!"_ The window on the door slid open to reveal a dark silhouette.

_"He's not here Amy, he's not here and he'll never be here for you again. You're all alone now." _The window slid shut again and all Amy could do was turn her back to the wall and wait. She stared at them tears in her eyes, trying not to blink.

She sat up, screaming. Everything was dark as she searched the room for Rory. "Rory? Rory!?" She was shaking as she noticed that the place next to her was empty.

He stood up and went quickly over to Amy and wrapped his arms around her. "Amy its okay, I'm right here. It was just a dream." She buried her head into his chest and cried, like she did every night.

"I can't do this anymore we have to find him. I just can't live like this."

She laid against him and wept herself to sleep as he just held her. Just as he was about to fall back to sleep again the door burst open.

Rose was standing there, out of breath and she had an enormous grin spread across her face. Amy woke up from the noise of the door swinging back and hitting the wall with a large thump and turned to look at Rose.

"Rose, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" Amy said putting on her robe and rushing over to the blond girl who was trying to speak.

"We, we found him. He's outside." Amy's eyes grew wide as she ran past Rose and out into the hallway running straight for the front door.

Hearing the noise from outside of her room River walked out into the hall. "What's wrong?" She said walking up to Rory and Rose who were talking outside of his room.

"We found him, we found the Doctor." Rose said as she started to jog towards the console room followed by Rory and River.

* * *

"Did Rose, did Rose just say the Ponds?" The Doctor said turning to look at John. "Like Amelia and Rory Pond? A red head and a blond? The nose and the legs?" John nodded as the Doctor's childish grin grew larger than before.

The door was still open when they heard Amy yell from inside. "RAGGEDY MAN!" The Doctor turned to face the open door as he was hit by a fast moving red head.

"Amelia Pond!" He picked her up and swung her around. After he placed her back down he kept on hugging her. "Oh Amelia, I've missed you so much." He put his hand on her head and held it close to him.

A few minutes later Rose, River, and Rory all stepped out of the Tardis into the field.

"Oh Rory! Look at you, back from the dead yet again." He let go of Amy and walked over to Rory hand out stretched. Bypassing the hand Rory grabbed the Doctor into a large hug.

"You're not getting rid of us that easily."

"Wouldn't dream of it Rory." After letting go of Rory he walked over to River.

"Hello sweetie." She beamed at him.

"Hello River," he leaned over and pecked her on the lips.

"I told you not to travel alone." She grabbed his hand as they walked closer to the others.

"Well I'm not alone anymore, am I?" he said gesturing towards the large group in front of him.

"No, you aren't, but Doctor where's your Tardis?"

"Oh I left it back in the city."

"You walked all the way here?"

"Well I had a lot on my mind so I didn't really notice."

"I guess we'll just have to go and get it then, shouldn't we?" The Doctor nodded and then turned to face John.

"Do you think we could barrow your Tardis for a trip? Go and fetch mine?"

"Of course Doctor, after you." John watched as the group went in their Tardis. First was Amy and Rory then the Doctor and River and then Rose.

He tried to ignore the horrible feeling in his stomach as he walked into the Tardis but he knew something bad was about to happen.


	11. Chapter 11

She crossed her legs as she sat on the chair next to the console, watching everyone happy to be reunited.

She studied each person as they buzzed around him trying to gain his attention or for some trying to ignore him. River stood next to him, she held the clip that was in her hair in her hand, and played with her fingers as she tried to pretend like she didn't mind sharing him with them.

Rory leaned against one of the railings and laughed at every appropriate moment but his eye's continually flashed down at his wife trying to see how she was feeling about everything that was happening. He was happy, but he was happier for her than he was for himself.

Amy's smile was enormous as she laughed and listened to everything he had to say, totally enthralled by his every word. Amy was the happiest she had ever seen as she told him about their lives for the past few years using excessive hand gestures and occasionally hitting him or Rory when they would joke with her.

She looked back at John the only one but her apart from the group. He worked at the console, pretending to fix one of the monitors that she knew he had fixed only days before. He was quiet and his emotions somber and stone hard. He looked back more at her than he did the group. Each time he did she just smiled at him and he went back to fixing the unbroken monitor.

She stood up and walked over to John. She reached around him just under his arms and above his waist and grabbed her other hand holding him. She leaned her head against his back as he grabbed her arms and turned around to look at her.

"Why don't you go and talk to them? Talk to him? We came all this way to find him didn't we?"

"We didn't come here just for him. We came here because there was nothing left for us there…not after, not after−"

"Rose, don't do this to yourself again. You know it wasn't your fault." She clutched her arms around him as she pressed her head against his chest listening to the one singular heart beat.

"I'm glad we found him though. It's like getting a piece of my family back, even if he does were fezzes now."

"You don't like fezzes?"

"No I do, I just think that I'd look better in them." She flashed him her grin as he couldn't help but laugh.

"I think you should tell him. Tell him what happened. He'd like to know."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

As she walked over to him her heart starting to beat faster, she didn't know if she could tell him. It had happened so recently and her heart was still broken.

"Doctor," she tapped him on the shoulder, "can I talk to you? Alone?" Everyone's faces dropped from their smiles to looks of concern.

He knew her so well; he knew that the only thing that she could have to tell him was bad news.

"We haven't left yet, so we could go outside and talk if you want to." He reached down and grabbed her hand. It was something he had missed terribly, the feeling of Rose's hand in his.

They walked out and he spread his coat down on the ground for them to sit on like he had done years before. "What's wrong?"

"Well exactly twenty three days ago my mom, Pete, and Tony went on a trip to Brazil for Pete's business." She swallowed tears growing in her eyes, "John and I, we decided not to go with them because we were invited to go to one of John's mates weddings and we just got back from a trip that we took to one of the moons of Jupiter. On their way back from their trip," she was crying hard now gasping for air before she could continue. "The plane's engine malfunctioned. They crashed and everyone in Pete's jet died on impact. They're dead Doctor, they're all dead."

His head was ringing. Today had been such a happy day, he thought nothing could've brought him down. He was wrong.

He reached over and put his arm around Rose as she cried. "That's why we're here, because we didn't have anything left."

"Oh Rose, I, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Please, I don't need anyone to feel bad for me. Just remember them, always." She took a deep breath and then stood up and turned to face the man still on the ground. She wiped the tears off of her face and put her hand out to help him up. "We have a Tardis to find." He grabbed her hand and she helped him up.

They walked over to her Tardis together and when they went in she let go of him and went to John and wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his chest.

The Doctor walked back over to the group he had left, his face much more serious and forlorn. "Doctor what is it? What happened?" River asked looking at the broken time lord.

"Rose, her family, her family died." Amy gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Rory looked down at the ground and shook his head. "They were fantastic, oh what I would give to be slapped by Jackie Tyler one more time."


	12. Chapter 12

"_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,"_ was the first thing he said after she closed the door to the police man who had told her the news.

She starred at him for a minute and then walked into their kitchen completely silent. He followed her playing with his wedding ring, a habit he had developed recently, whenever he was nervous or worried about her.

She reached up into the cupboard and took a glass down. Then she walked over to the fridge and filled the glass with water.

_"Rose?"_ She looked up at him after staring at her glass of water for over an hour. He stood up from his seat and walked over to her. She stood there emotionless as she just stared at the spot he left.

He wrapped her in his arms and rested his chin on her head. She let go of the glass and grabbed his arms. Then no longer able to stand she collapsed to the ground.

They sat on the kitchen floor for hours. His back rested on the island with his feet pressed against the fridge in the narrow space. She sat in between his legs her hands intertwined with his.

_"You should eat."_ John said, uttering the first thing either had said since ending up on the ground.

_"Doctor, I can't."_ He stood up and lifted her up with him.

_"Come on, we can't stay in here forever."_

_ "Can't we try?"_ He ran his fingers through his hair as he stared down at his damaged wife. He had no idea what to do.

He had lost so many people in his own life, but he hadn't lost like this for so long. He decided to suggest to something he was good at. _"Let's run."_

_ "Run? Run where?"_ She looked up at him, surprised to see that he had been crying.

_"Anywhere, just not here." _He ran down to the basement, where the Tardis was. She heard the door of the time machine open and close.

Alone for the first time since learning that she no longer had any family she could no longer hold in the tears. She wasn't crying out loud but tears were streaming down her face.

Hearing him climbing back up the stairs she wiped the tears away from her face onto her sleeves and turned to look at him.

He was carrying a huge pile of collapsed cardboard boxes. He walked over to the middle of their living room and dropped them all onto the floor.

_"Well then, we've got an entire house to pack." _He started to assemble one of the boxes as she tried to muster a smile but couldn't. Instead she walked over to John and picked up the pillows from the couch behind him and shoved them into the box.

_"Then we should start now."_

The sound of the Tardis lurched Rose out of her flashback. She looked up to see a strange new family surrounding her. They could never replace them, but the hole in her heart was starting to sting less.

"Alright, we're here, now what?" John said turning to face the Doctor.

"I, I don't know. I could show you the Tardis. I changed her desktop again."

"You didn't, did you?" Amy said looking heartbroken that the Tardis had changed while they had gone.

"It felt like it needed something new." He said, pushing the doors open, "Come along Ponds and Smiths?" He said turning to look back at John and Rose. "Nah, come along Ponds and Tylers. We have a Tardis to find." They all left to go and find the Tardis.

"So you parked it in New Central Park and you don't even know where?" River said as they stepped into the large park.

"I wasn't paying that much attention when I landed it."

They started to walk through the enormous park and after an hour of searching they all stopped at a fountain in the middle of the park, next to where they had begun their search.

"It's here somewhere. By a tree I think."

Rory turned and looked at the Doctor, "We're in a park."

"Well, okay but there can't be too many trees in a park that's famous for its genetically altered banana orange trees, right?"

"Bananas?" John said perking up at the sound of his favorite food. Everyone laughed everyone that is except for Amy.

They all started to talk about where they would try to look next. Amy was silent as she stared up at the top of the fountain. She was staring at a statue of angel identical to the Bethesda fountain in New York, except for one thing. Her hands were covering her face. She was weeping.

Her heart beat fast as she tried to say something, anything. Her nightmares kept flashing back. She was too terrified to look away she couldn't move or speak. She felt her world become dark as she began to black out.

Amy fell to the ground, "NO! NOOO!" John yelled looking at the empty space next to him that Rose had occupied seconds before. River stared in complete shock at the empty spot where the Doctor had been sitting moments before. Rory tried to rush over to Amy to help her without losing eye contact with the angel.

"We have to get back to the Tardis," he picked up Amy in his arms and started to back up to the Police box, never blinking.

River still in shock followed her parents to the box. "John, we have to go into the Tardis. It's our only way of finding them." Rory said as he tried to open the doors.

John stood there immovable. "John please!" He turned back to Rory and walked straight into the time machine, his face completely emotionless. No one would want to get in his way. There was no denying that this man was the oncoming storm.


	13. Chapter 13

He could only stare and watch as Rose yelled into the empty sky and then crumpled to the ground.

"Rose, its fine, everything will be okay. They'll find us." The Doctor said trying to comfort her. Coming over and placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you dare touch me!" She yelled up at the Doctor. He backed up quickly, never seeing Rose like this before.

"I, I'm sorry." She stood up and gathered herself.

"None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you. I don't know why I even wanted to find you." She started walking through the large grain field, leaving the baffled man in the bowtie behind.

"Rose where are you going?!" He yelled running to catch up to her.

"To find my way out of this field so that I can somehow find my husband. Who," she turned around so quickly that the Doctor almost ran into her, "would never leave me behind and who will never give up on looking for me."

Half an hour later the Doctor caught up to an exhausted Rose standing next to an interstate. "Crap," she said as she watched the cars zooming past her.

"What?" He said, out of breath he placed his hands on his knees trying to catch it again.

"We're in America, what looks to be 2011, which means no time travel."

"How do you know where we are?" He said looking up at her winded.

"The plates say Idaho, so unless there's an Idaho in Germany or Chile, we're in America. The cars also look like they were from two years ago, that is if the cars are the same in this universe."

He was silent as the angry blond tried to wave down a car. "Rose what, what's wrong?" She turned to look at him.

"Five years."

"Five years? Five years of what?"

"I haven't spent ten minutes apart from him in five years." She continued to try to get the attention of a driver as she started to cry.

A middle age woman in a minivan pulled over next to the girl. She rolled down her window and saw that Rose was crying. "Oh sweet heart, don't cry. I'll give you a ride." She pressed a button in her car and the side door slid open.

"Thank you." Rose said climbing in with the Doctor right next to her.

"Oh, you're not from here." She said noticing Rose's accent.

"No, I'm from London." She said. The Doctor watched as she pulled her hands into her lap and started to play with her wedding ring.

Her hands felt unbearably empty. "Where are you guys headed?" The woman said glancing back at the two strangers in her back seat.

"Anywhere that we can find a phone and get something to eat." The woman nodded and continued to drive.

Rose looked so sad and so lost. He didn't know what to do; he had never seen her like this. Usually she was brave and headstrong.

Twenty minutes later the woman pulled into a parking lot of a seven eleven. "Thank you." Rose said as they climbed out and walked into the gas station.

She walked over to the counter and looked at the man sitting behind it. "Do you have a phone I could use?" The man grunted and then handed the girl an old wireless land line.

"Don't steal it." Rose gave him a half smile. Who would steal a phone from a gas station? She turned to find the Doctor.

He was walking up and down all of the aisles his eyes growing wide at everything he saw. "Look Rose they have slurp drinks," he pointed over at the machine but got distracted by the hot dogs, "they have hot dogs and look Cheetos and Twizzlers and oooh they have Twinkies, you know they stop making these in a few years." he ran up to her gathering food in his arms until he couldn't hold anymore.

"Do you have any money?" She asked him feeling like she was babysitting more than traveling with the Doctor. She missed John so much.

"Don't need any," he smiled and somehow moved everything into one arm and pulled out his psychic paper.

"Doctor, I don't know who to call." She said trailing behind him phone in hand. He handed the man behind the cash register the psychic paper and then dropped everything in his arms onto the counter.

"Well you could call me. I'm in Utah I think. But then again that might create a paradox. No don't do that. Don't call me." He walked back to Rose with a bag full of food shoving a piece of beef jerky in his mouth.

"I could call Mickey," she leaned against the stack of magazines and looked at the man she thought she knew.

"Oh Mickey, Mickey, Mickey yeah do that call him. You'll get Martha too if you do." She stopped pushing the buttons and looked up at the Doctor.

"What do you mean I'll get Martha too?" She said continuing to punch the numbers in.

"Oh right you don't know do you? Martha and Mickey got married." He started to open up the Twinkie.

"They did?" She laughed. Good for them. Rose was glad that he was happy and that Martha was happy too. She finished dialing and held the phone up to her ear. "Hopefully he has the same number."

"Well, he wasn't always much for change." He shoved the Twinkie in his mouth.


	14. Chapter 14

The phone rang as she finished taking all of the clothes out of the dryer. It was Saturday and the first day she had off for what seemed like ages. "Mickey your phones ringing!" She yelled into the bedroom as she hauled the basket of clothes into the living room.

He looked up from his pillow and moaned. Who would be calling him at—he looked at the alarm clock—two in the afternoon. Oh he had had such a long night at George's bachelor party. "Hellllllooo?" he answered still not completely awake his head pounding after a long night of partying.

"Mickey?" A woman's voice asked, it reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago, but he pushed that thought out of his mind, knowing it was impossible.

He stood up and walked over to the bathroom and started to brush his teeth. "Yaaa, whosh dish?"

"Mickey its Rose," he almost choked on the water in his mouth.

"Roooshe?"

"What?" He spit out the water in his mouth.

"Rose?"

"Yeah hey it's been a while. Look I'm trapped in Idaho and it's a really long story but um we're going to try to find our way over to you guys and I just wanted to call you and tell you. Also can you look up," she leaned over to look at the post cards next to the wall, "Inkom Idaho and tell me where the nearest airport is?

"Actually never mind the guy at the counter is giving me a really annoyed look and I think he wants his phone back."

"Rose what, what?" Mickey stammered unable to create a full sentence.

The Doctor took the phone from Rose, "Hello Mickey! It's been too long! Listen Rose and I will be there shortly and by shortly I mean tomorrow."  
"Who is this?" He walked into the living room and gestured for Martha to come over. She walked over and he put the speaker on.

"Mickey this is the Doctor. Listen I would love to chat really but the scary man at the counter seems to really want his phone back so I'll let you go. See you tomorrow." And with that the phone went dead.

Martha looked up at Mickey, "What was that?"

"I think that was Rose and the Doctor."

"That wasn't the Doctor."

"Who knows maybe he regenerated again. Either way we have visitors coming tomorrow." He put the phone down on the table and sat back on the couch trying to understand everything that had happened in the last five minutes.

* * *

John stood in the middle of his Tardis his elbows resting on the console and his hands running through his hair.

"John," River said walking over to the frustrated man, "Where do you think they are?"

"I have no idea. BUT, I know somewhere we could start."

"Where?" He stood up and started to put the coordinates into the Tardis.

"Weeeeell it's not as much as where but more like who."

* * *

Rose handed the phone back to the man. "Thank you." He grumbled and then put the phone back behind him.

"Is there any way you could or anyone really could give us a ride to the airport?" He shook his head and pointed out to a sign outside.

"The bus will take you; it should already be here by now." She nodded and then dragged the Doctor out by his hand.

"Mmmm where are we going?" He swallowed down a mouthful of hotdog.

"We're going to the bus so that we can go to the airport so we can go to a bigger airport so that we can go and find Mickey and Martha and then somehow find John and your merry crew."

"My merry crew?"

"Oh look here's the bus." A large bus pulled up in front of them. Rose reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of psychic paper.

She handed the bus driver the paper. "How many stops until the airport?" They guy leaned back in his chair and started to count the air.

"Seven."

"Thank you," She said and walked to the back of the bus and sat down next to the window.

The Doctor came and sat down next to her. He placed the bag of food he had in between his legs. Nervous he started to strum his fingers against the chair in front of him. "Are you okay?" He said turning to her.

She had her elbow leaned against the window and she stared out at the road passing by. "No, no I'm not okay." She looked back at him, her eyes full of sorrow.

"Oh, Rose I'm sorry," He wrapped his arm around her.

"Doctor, can you, can you hold my hand? I know it's stupid but I think it will make me feel better." Without even responding he grabbed her hand. "Do you think they'll find us?"

"Oh I know they will." She pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees, wrapping one of her arms around herself the other clasping onto the Doctors hand.

He stared at her, the bad wolf. She was so broken and he had done a major part of the damage. He wished more than anything that she was the same girl he had battled cyberman, daleks, and werewolves with.


	15. Chapter 15

"_Rose what are you doing?" _Jackie stood in the doorway looking at her daughter. She was in her wedding dress looking into the mirror, although she should have been downstairs already.

_"I'm just trying to convince myself that this is all real."_

_ "Of course it's real sweetie."_ Her mother came and sat down next to the bride. _"The Doctor loves you and today is your day, so just get out there!" _

"Rose, Rose," she felt someone shaking her gently, "we're here." Why was John waking her up? What time was it? Her heart sunk as she realized that she wasn't in her bed with John next to her.

She was still on the bus next to the Doctor. She stood up and followed the time lord off the bus. She was still holding his hand as they climbed off and walked into the small airport.

The Doctor, realizing that Rose wasn't completely awake walked up to the counter. "Yes, hello we need two tickets to London." The woman at the counter looked up, her eyebrows arched.

Rose looked at the Doctor and sighed. "Can we get two tickets to Salt Lake?" The woman typed something into her computer and turned to look at Rose. "Do you have a credit card?" The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and handed it to the woman. "Names?"

"Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith." Rose answered. The Doctor looked over at her confused.

"Identification?" The Doctor pointed at the psychic paper.

"We already gave it to you." The woman looked shocked as she realized that she already had their driver's licenses. She handed them back their tickets and the psychic paper.

"Have a good flight."

The Doctor leaned over and whispered to Rose, "Two questions, first, why are we going to Utah? Second, Mickey? Really?"

"Well we need to get a flight to a bigger airport and from there we can get a flight to London. And I couldn't say the Doctor and I wasn't going to say…." she couldn't let him use the name John; she couldn't even say it herself.

He picked up on what she was trying to say. "Mickey Smith, okay, not the name I thought I would use today." They walked to their gate and then sat down. "So how long until our plane is here?"

"Um…" she read the ticket, "three hours."

"THREE HOURS! Rose," he whined, "what am I going to do for three hours?" She laughed, a real genuine laugh, the first one since she had found herself separated from John.

* * *

Amy sat in the chair next to the console in complete ruin. "It's all my fault." She buried her face in her hands, "It's completely my fault."

Rory and River tried to comfort her but nothing they said made her feel any better. "Amelia?" John said after landing the Tardis, "I don't want to bring everyone with me, because I need some of you to stay and do research on the Doctors and Rose's whereabouts, but I was wondering if you would come and help me find the person I'm looking for?"

Amy looked up, she had stopped crying, "Why me?"

"Cause Amelia Pond," he said popping the p, "I have a feeling that you will be very helpful." He walked over to her and out stretched his hand wiggling his fingers until she took it.

* * *

"Rose," the Doctor said turning to look at his blond companion, "how much longer do we have?" she looked over at the clock on the wall and then back down at her ticket, "we only have twenty minutes left." He stood up and started to pace back and forth.

"Do you know what I hate?" She looked up at him.

"What, what do you hate?"

"Traveling that takes so long." She could only laugh at the man in front of her. He was similar in many ways to the Doctor she had known but in other ways he was different.

It would take her a while to adjust to it, but she felt like she would be able to soon. She would be able to be friends with him again. "Look," she said pointing to the gate door, "they're boarding."

The Doctor grabbed her hand and yanked her up into the line of passengers. They were able to get on the plane quickly. He sighed looking at the size of the plane, "it's tiny."

"You travel around the universe in a police box."

"Yes, but that's bigger on the inside. This," he said gesturing to the plane, "is smaller on the inside."

"Come on," she dragged him down into a seat.

* * *

They walked into a busy and packed bar. John dragged Amy through the crowd of people by her hand. She looked at everyone she passed by, each a different type of alien. "Are we in an Alien bar?"

John stopped and looked back at her, "weeeeeeell it's not a human bar." She nodded and continued to follow him back to a booth.

"You know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of that one scene in Star Wars, the one where they're chasing that one girl." John glanced back at the red headed girl he held on to, not wanting to lose her in this mix of people, and laughed. He could see why the Doctor cared about her so much.

"Right, well we're here." He dragged her into the booth and then closed the curtains in front of it, blocking the rest of the bar from seeing them. "He should be here by now, but that is like him, never where you want him."

Amy sat next to John and watched him as they waited. The man was a wreck. He kept on playing with his wedding ring and when he wasn't doing that he was running his hands through his hair. He was nervous and anxious. He missed Rose and it was obvious.


	16. Chapter 16

"We're here." She said after they landed in the airport in Utah. They stood up and left the air plane. "We have to go to the ticket counter so that we can buy tickets to London." The airport was busy and not wanting to get separated from the Doctor she grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.

Halfway through the airport they came to a large walkway. On one side of the walkway there was a long electric sidewalk that moved numerous stationary people forward.

Before Rose could say anything he pulled her onto the moving path. "Doctor the other way would've been faster."

"Yes, but this way is more fun!" he started walking forward through the people pulling her behind him. Faster than expected they arrived at the ticket counter.

"Two tickets for London." The time lord said swinging the hand he held Rose's with back and forth. The man behind the counter quickly typed into his computer.

"Passports and money," the Doctor leaned over and handed the man his psychic paper. The man nodded and then handed the tickets to the Doctor and Rose. "The next flight is in four hours." The Doctor grumbled under his breath as they started to walk to their gate.

"We'll have to go through security again." Rose said. He moaned having barely gotten through the last security check, which consisted of only a pat down to check if he had a gun.

Rose took off her belt and her shoes and placed them into the bucket. The Doctor followed suit taking his jacket and boots off also. He watched as Rose stepped through the metal detector. He followed after her, glad that the detector didn't detect any alien metals, from everything he was carrying in his pants pockets.

When he went to grab his coat the woman behind the machine stopped him. She reached into the pocket and grabbed his sonic screwdriver. "What is this?" She asked turning the screwdriver over.

"It's, uh, it's a flashlight." He took the screwdriver and clicked the button. She jumped at the sound but then shrugged as it did shine a light.

"What's the noise?" The Doctor sighed; this was going to be difficult.

Rose watched the Doctor as he tried to get his sonic screwdriver through security as she laced up her trainers and put her belt back on. She waited for him for twenty minutes as he convinced the security personnel that he wasn't sneaking a bomb into the airport.

"That was worse than fighting the slitheen." He put his boots and jacket back on. "Right so now where?" She stood up and took his hand and they started to walk through the airport.

"We have to go to our gate, and then we get to wait some more." He moaned and she laughed at how he was so impatient. "Welcome to the life of the everyday human.

"Oooooh!" he said when they walked towards their gates, "look at all the little shops, I love little shops!" She giggled and then turned to look at him.

"I know." They walked around the corner when Rose saw them. "Doctor look! It's Amy and Rory." He looked down and saw Amy and Rory coming out of a gate. His eyes widened as he looked at Rose who was trying to gain their attention.

He grabbed her and shoved her into a small shop. "Doctor what are you doing!?" She yelled at him.

"SHHHHHH," he put his hand over her mouth as she started to yell at him, "they might see us." She looked at him furiously. "That's not Amy and Rory. Well it is, but that's a past version of Amy and Rory. If they see us we would create another paradox, because present Amy and Rory don't know where we are."

The Doctor watched as his two friends walked past him, slowing removing his hand from Rose's mouth. He sighed knowing what they were going to see when they met him; they were going to see him die.

"What's wrong?" she said looking up at him.

"It's a long story." Out of the corner of her eye Rose saw a machine that would play any CD that the store had on hand, so that you could see if you wanted to buy it. She walked over to it and started to go through the choices.

The Doctor walked behind her and leaned over and pressed one of the buttons. Music started to fill the small shop, which caused the clerk to look up but then back down at his iphone game.

He put his hand out for Rose to take. She raised her eyebrows confused at what he wanted. "Come on, the world doesn't end if the Doctor dances," he flashed her a smile as she grabbed his hand.

He spun her around in the small space that they had, dipping her slightly so that she didn't hit her head. They danced slowly around in place as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

When the music came to a stop she looked back at him. "Thank you." He smiled down at her and then took her hand and led her out of the shop. He looked down to where Amy and Rory had been to make sure that they were gone.

"So, we have three more hours of waiting and then we have our flight, how long is our flight again? No more than two hours right?" She started laughing, "what?"

"Doctor our flight is five hours long." He moaned collapsing on one of the chairs outside of their gate.

"What am I going to do for five hours?!"

"We also have a layover in Atlanta. And then another flight for ten hours." She winced as the Doctor moaned again louder.


	17. Chapter 17

Amy leaned against the booth chair. It was old and worn and the red leather was faded. It was still comfortable though which was good because they had been waiting for over half an hour.

She picked up her legs and crossed them underneath her. John sat next to her. His leg shook nervously as he tapped his finger against the table.

Amy was about to tell John that the person they were waiting for wasn't going to show up when the curtains were pushed back and a tall man slid into the booth across from them.

"Hello Doctor, long time no see. New companion? Hey, Captain Jack Harkness." He reached his hand out for Amy to shake flashing her a beautiful smile.

"Don't you dare Jack, she's married." Jack gave Amy another look that made her blush. "And I'm not the Doctor."

"You're not? You sure look like him."

"I'm the meta crisis clone." Jack nodded and then turned to look at Amy.

"And who, might I ask, is the red head?" John turned to look at Amy. Frustrated that the man was being so flirtatious/

"You can slap him if you want to."

* * *

"Right so what are we looking for?" Rory asked River as they stood in the middle of the large library. She took down a large stack of books and started to search through their indexes.

"Anything to bring my husband home, any mention of him or Rose."

"Right, well I don't think we're going to get very far." Rory pulled out a drawer from a filing cabinet in a large line of filing cabinets. "We can't possibly go through everything.

"We do what ever it takes Rory."

* * *

"So what you're saying is that you lost Rose and the Doctor." Jack said leaning over so that he could hear John clearly.

John sighed, "If you have to phrase it that way, yes."

"So why do you need me?"

"Well, we thought you might know where they were."

"Nah sorry, haven't heard anything." John moaned and dropped his face onto the table. "I can help you look though."

Amy spoke up for the first time, "do you have any idea where we could look? Who we could ask?"

"Oh, she's Scottish! Sorry lass, I have no idea. We could check the torchwood files. They went back into the past right? So we just have to check every year after that, so what year was it?"

"Five billion twenty three." He said lifting his head up to look at Jack.

"Right so we have a lot of looking to do." Jack stood up and left the booth. John stood up next grabbing Amy's hand so he didn't lose her.

* * *

"Rose are they boarding yet?" the Doctor turned around in his seat towards the woman next to him who was reading a book she had bought earlier.

"No, we still have another hour."

"I need to do something, I need to eat something."

"Well we could go get some food if you want." Before she could say anything else he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards an area filled with restaurants. "Right so do you want McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, or Wendy's?"

"I don't know what's good?"

"I don't know Wendy's is okay I guess." He rubbed his hands together and then hungrily walked up to the counter.

"Yes, hello I'll have a hamburger with some chips please." The woman stared at him.

"We don't have chips."

"Oh right we're in America!" He hit himself on the head, "how could I be so forgetful, I'll have a hamburger and some fries." She nodded and processed his order.

"I'll have the same, 'cept no pickles and a lemonade." Rose said walking up behind him.

"No pickles! But they're one of the best parts." Rose sighed and then rolled her eyes.

"No they're not, they're disgusting. I don't see how you could like them."

"Because Rose, they're delicious." After being handed their food they started to walk back to their spot.

"Oh Doctor do you want to buy a book? That might buy you some time." She pulled him into a book store and took one off of the shelf. "Oh I heard that this one's good."

"That would take me twenty minutes to read. Twenty two tops."

"Right," she handed the book to the Doctor and then took one of each of the top selling books off the shelf and handed them to him. "So there's twenty books here do you think that will last you until we get to our layover?"

"Yes, yes I think so. Can we go eat now?" Rose nodded as they walked over and paid for the books.

"What book are you reading?" The Doctor said turning to Rose.

"Oh it's, it's nothing." She slid the book into her jacket.

"If it was nothing you would show it to me. What is it?"

"It's nothing really, just a cheesy book I found."

"About what?" his childish grin grew wider as he popped another fry into his mouth.

"I'm only telling you this because I know you, and I know you won't drop it unless I tell you. It's about a girl and she meets this man who is a time traveler," the Doctor raised his eyebrows but before he could say anything she continued, "And she falls in love with him but they can never be together because he's always in the wrong time." She placed the book back in her lap and started to play with her wedding ring again. "I'm not finished with it yet. Some of us read at a normal pace."

"Rose Tyler did you just say you knew me? And that you're reading a romance novel about a time traveler?"

"I do, know you that is. You're the Doctor."

"You didn't act that way before."

"It just took a while. You're the Doctor and I've missed you. You were my best friend you know?"

"I know Rose, you were mine too." He reached his arm around her and hugged her tightly, "We'll find them, somehow we'll find them."


	18. Chapter 18

"_Doctor, I have a question for you," _Rose said sitting in her usual spot next to the console.

_"Sure shoot."_

_ "It's a serious question; I'm not going to just shoot it."_ John stopped tinkering with the Tardis and walked over to his wife.

_"What's the question Rose?" _he sat down next to her and grabbed her hand.

_"Do you…do you ever…"_

_ "Do I what Rose?"_

_ "Do you ever want a family with me?"_ she looked at him her eyes curious but also cautious._ "I don't want to push you to; I just thought I'd ask."_ He ran his free hand through his hair.

_"Do you want a family?"_

_"I, I don't know. I always wanted one when I was younger. But I know that you already had one and I don't want you to do something like this just because of me."_

_ "I have thought about it Rose." _He reached his free hand out and cupped her face with it. _"I've thought about it seriously for months, since you said I do."_

_ "And what did you decide."_

_ "Yes."_ He smiled at her, his grin enormous.

_ "Yes?" _She asked tears of joy starting to fall down her face, her smile growing to match his.

_"Yes," _and then he kissed her deep but softly. _"When?"_

_"After we find him, after we settle down again. Okay?"_

_ "Okay,"_ and he kissed her again.

"Rose?" she looked up from the magazine she was looking at to see the Doctor staring at her from the seat next to her on the airplane.

"Hmmm?"

"Why have you been staring at that page for an hour?" She looked down at the page her magazine was turned to. It was an ad for a cruise, but the picture on it was one of a man and a woman each holding a hand of their toddler daughter while walking on the beach."

"I…I didn't notice."

"Why were you staring at it?" his eyebrows arched.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"That's not nothing." He pointed at the picture.

"That's an ad for a cruise."

"An ad that you've been staring at for over an hour." He stared at her as she tried to form an answer.

"We, we were going to have a family, John and me. After we found you and settled down again."

"You were?" she nodded and then closed the magazine.

"We still are." She closed the magazine and set it down. She then pulled her legs up and leaned her head against the Doctor closing her eyes.

"Are you going to sleep?" he leaned his head against hers as he finished his tenth book.

"No, I'm just thinking."

"What about?"

"Mostly about John really, but also about how I'm going to tell Mickey about my mum."

"I really am Sorry Rose."

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

"River, Rory this is Jack." John said stepping into the Tardis followed by Jack and Amy.

"Hello I'm Capt—"

"No don't start, just no."

"I can't even say hello?"

"No, you can't not to the Doctors wife and Amelia's husband." Jack's face lit up as he walked around River.

"Right then, let's go see if we can find something about you husbands location."

River walked up next to John, "John, who is he?"

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"He's impossible."

"A fixed thing in time, he not possible, but he's there right in front of us."

"No, I mean he's impossible look how he's flirting with Rory and Amy!"

"JACK! I told you no!"

* * *

"Mickey what are you doing?" Martha said walking over to her husband.

"I'm cleaning up." Martha glanced at her husband who was mopping their kitchen floor in their practically spotless house.

"I mopped that floor twenty minutes ago."

"You did?" she nodded. He dropped the mop back into the bucket.

"What's wrong with you? You haven't been this nervous in years."

"It's just the Doctor and Rose are coming. The Doctor and Rose!"

"They won't even be here until tomorrow."

"But they'll be here."

* * *

He watched her as she slept, it was late and the moon was already visible. A flight attendant came down the aisle handing blankets out.

"Would you like a blanket for your wife?" The woman said.

"Oh no we're not married, but yes a blanket would be nice." The flight attendant handed him a blanket wrapped in plastic wrap.

He tried to open it silently without moving the shoulder Rose was sleeping on. Gently and carefully he finally pried it open. He took the blanket out and spread it across her.

"Good night Rose Tyler defender of the earth." He bent down and kissed her on the top of her head.

She had left her book in the pocket of the chair in front of her. He reached forward and grabbed it looking at the cover.

The picture on the front was of a woman holding a man in her arms as he faded away from her. The title read The Impossible Love of a Time Traveler. It looked cheesy but curious he opened it to page one.


	19. Chapter 19

_ "Hello Amelia."_ She sat in a small office where books lined the walls. The chair she was in was soft and friendly, but she still shifted uncomfortably in it. A strand of her hair fell in front of her face and she quickly brushed it back behind her ear. She knew he was looking at her, waiting for her to respond.

_"Alright, well Amelia while we're together I'd like to get to know you a little better. We'll start with some questions. Let's start with an easy question, but don't worry there are no wrong answers. What is your name?"_

She took a deep breath if she learned anything from the two past psychologists it was that silence only made the hour longer. _"Amy Pond."_

_"How old are you Amelia?"_

_ "Twelve."_

_ "Do you know why you're here?"_

_ "Because I'm crazy."_

_ "Do you think that?"_

_ "No."_

_ "Why are you really here Amelia?" _She rested her head against her hands as she took a deep breath.

_"Because of the man in the blue box."_ The man behind the desk nodded and clicked his pen and started to write something down.

_"Who is the man in the blue box?"_

_ "An alien, who told me he would show me the stars."_

_ "Where is he now?"_

_ "Five years late."_

_ "Late for what?"_

_ "To take me away."_

* * *

She sat next to Rory on the seat next to the consol. They had been so close. She had him. He had held her. It had been so amazing to have him back, so fantastic.

And now he was gone and all she had to show for it was a lonely man and a flirtatious captain.

"Where are we?" She said when the Tardis landed with an echoing thud.

"Torchwood year five billion and fifty, the largest database for the earth." Jack answered pushing the doors open to reveal an enormous cement and steel room. He walked out first followed by River and John.  
"How do you know that they're on earth?" Rory said standing up grabbing her hand. The walked out of the Tardis and into the enormous room that was filled with nothing but computers.

"Thing about angels," John said walking over to the main monitor of the enormous computer system, "is that they always send you back to your home world for some reason. Since the Doctor can't be sent back to Gallifrey they probably sent them to earth."

John pulled out his glasses and put them on leaning over to see the screen clearer, because as a human he actually needed the glasses.

"Let's see if we can find them."

* * *

"So when we get to the airport we only have an hour to get to our next flight. So we'll eat first, buy you some more books, buy you a bag for all of your books, go to the bathroom, and then somehow make it to our flight to London." He nodded. Rose was becoming the girl he knew. Maybe she was become more comfortable or maybe she was becoming more hardened. He couldn't tell. Hopefully she was okay, but he still had the lingering feeling that she was still crying inside.

The airplane stopped taxiing on the runway and was connected to the airport so that the passengers could start to unload. "Don't forget your books Doctor. We'll have to do something with those." He picked up the stack that he read with Rose's book on top, shoving them into the plastic bag he had brought them on with. "Did you read my book?" She asked.

"Yeah I did a little cheesy for my taste but a good read. Sorry about that." She grabbed the book from him and hit him on the arm with it.

"That's just like you, not doing what you're told." She smiled her tongue barely sticking out from her teeth. "Let's go we have an awful lot of things to do in one hour." She grabbed his hand and led him off of the plane and into the busy airport.

They walked directly to a fast food place. "Chick-fil-a?" The Doctor asked as she ordered him a number one with a lemonade and the same for herself, no pickles. After getting it he stuffed his mouth happily. "Why do the chips look like waffles?"

"I don't know it's good though," she ate a bite of her chicken sandwich and grabbed his hand and pulled him into a book store. She took a backpack that they had on display and started to fill the bag with any book she could find. She took it to the counter and handed it to the clerk, who arched his eyebrows but rang all of the books and the bag through. She also took the plastic bag that the Doctor had been carrying and handed it to the clerk.

"He finished reading these if you want them." And with that they left.

"Oh wait!" She turned around and ran back into the electronic store next to the one they were just in. leaving him alone for several minutes. "Here you go." She handed him a small flat device.

"What is it?"

"It's a kindle. You put books on it; this one is already preloaded with a bunch." He flipped it over, then smelled it, and finally licked it.

"Not really the same is it?" She laughed. He was definitely the same man.


	20. Chapter 20

She glanced back down at her watch after they started to walk to their gate. "Oh crap, we have fifteen minutes to make it to our flight. We can make it if we run."

He grabbed her hand and they started to run through the airport. They ran quickly and didn't stop until they reached the trains that ran through the airport. Climbing on the first one that would take them to the part of the airport their gate was in. The train was extremely packed.

There was only one hand hold left so he took it and she held around his waist as the train sped forward at an incredible speed, almost knocking her over. He grabbed her before she fell and held her tightly with his free arm.

They began running again as soon as the train stopped arriving at their gate seconds before they closed the door. They hurriedly climbed onto the plane.

Relieved that they had made it they sat down. "I always did love the running." She smiled at him.

"I've done a lot of running lately." He talked to her for hours, telling her about all of the trips she had missed and all of the people he had met. She nodded and added in to the conversation, laughed, and comforted him when needed.

After talking for three hours he glanced back at Rose from the window he had been staring out of to see that she had fallen asleep. He took the blanket he had kept in his bag and covered her up with it; watching her eyes dash back and forth under her eyelids.

* * *

"_How many cups of sugar do we add?"_ He turned to look at Rose from the bowl that was somehow going to turn into a birthday cake for him.

_"Only a cup."_

_"Only one! We could always add more couldn't we?"_

_ "Not unless we want our cake to turn out badly."_

_ "It's my cake, maybe I want to sabotage it."_ He grinned at her sticking his finger into the homemade icing she was making. She swatted his hand away. _"I don't need a birthday party really Rose."_

_ "Come on. It's not every day a man turns three." _She smirked at him.

He moaned and poured in a cup of sugar. _"I thought we agreed on thirty not three."_

_ "A little optimistic there aren't we?" _She laughed and then started to add the food coloring to the frosting.

_"Oh Rose Tyler you are going to regret that." _

_ "I am?"_

_ "Oh yes." _He reached into the bag of flour next to him, his grin enormous. Her eyes widened as she backed away giggling nervously.

_"You wouldn't dare!"_

_ "I thought you knew better than to underestimate me."_ He grabbed a handful and threw it at her.

_"Doctor!" _She said in protest grabbing the detachable faucet from the sink and pointing it at him. He dropped the flower putting his hands up in the air

_"You wouldn't"_

_ "Try me!" _She turned the sink on and hosed him.

_"Oh Rose you know what this means?" _He started to walk towards her water dripping from his drenched clothes.

_"What?"_

_ "I get to give you an enormous gigantic fantastic hug." _He grabbed her wrapping his arms around her getting her soaked twirling her around in the air. She squealed in protest. _"See this is a great birthday present."_

_ "Oh Doctor you know that I love you right?"_ She reached over to the counter grabbing an egg.

_"As long as you know that I love you." _He grabbed the cake batter off of the counter. She broke the egg on his head but before he could dump the batter on her Jackie walked into the kitchen carrying a bag full of party decorations.

_"Eh, what's going on in here?"_ John looked back from Jackie to Rose and broke into an enormous fit of laughter. A few seconds later Rose joined in with him. _"You two I swear, I don't know if you could be anymore in love."_

She put the bag down on the counter and left the room shaking her head. John walked over to Rose and grabbed her pulling her next to him. _"I think I should go to my party like this."_

_ "You do?"_

_ "What you don't think I look fantastic?" _He leant over to kiss her the egg slipping off of his head and landing down her shirt. She looked up shocked and then started to laugh.

_"Not as good as me."_

* * *

The Doctor watched as she fidgeted in her sleep. She was sleep talking again. Something she rarely did, but something he loved to hear her do.

"I have an egg in my bra." She mumbled under her breath causing the Doctors grin to become enormous. He knew that if he talked to her while she was sleeping she would respond; something that had entertained him for hours before.

"You do? How did it get there?"

"My Doctor did it. He was supposed to be helping me make a cake."

"Oh a cake what for?"

"For his birthday he, he…" she rolled over and the rest of the sentence was muffled. He picked up her wrist and looked at her watch. Only seven hours left. Seven hours, what was he supposed to do for seven hours!

He stood up and walked back to the lavatories, which were both occupied. He leaned against the wall and waited for someone to leave. He honestly didn't have to go, but he was extremely bored.

He almost missed who it was when she walked out of the bathroom, until she bumped into him. It was Sylvia Noble. "Sorry," she said as she slid passed him.

He grabbed onto her arm, instinctively not wanting to lose the chance to know that her daughter was okay. She looked shocked as the Doctor tried to overcome his own surprise at the impossible odds of her being on this flight. "Sylvia? Sylvia Noble?" He leaned in closely studying the woman unable to believe that she was actually there.


	21. Chapter 21

"Do I know you?" The woman said looking at the strange man in front of her.

"It's me, the Doctor." Her face went grim and somber.

"Whoever you are, what ever you think you are doing it's not funny."

"No really it's me. Cross my hearts. Look over there do you see that girl? The blond one? That's Rose. You met her right or did Wilf and Donna tell you about her?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his seat where Rose was fast asleep. "You see its Rose Tyler."

"Listen whoever you are I don't know what you're playing at or if you think this is funny but it's not."

"Sylvia listen, I regenerated. Changed my face but look," he took her hands and pressed them against his chest, "still got two hearts. Please, just please tell me how she is?"

She sighed still not convinced that this man was the Doctor but not seeing any harm in telling him how Donna was. "She's good and happy, genuinely happy. Still married and they already adopted two kids too. Look I don't know if I can honestly trust you, but I'm going to my seat now."

"Is she here? Is she on the plane?"

"Yes but she's asleep." He glanced back at Rose who was also ignorant of what was going on around her.

"She can't see Rose. Why are you here?"

"We took the kids to Florida for Disney and all of those things. Better question why are you here?"

"Long story, listen Sylvia can I see her?"

"Will she remember you?"

"Not if I don't tell her who I am, please can I see her?"

"This way," she led him to the back of the airplane on the opposite side from where they had been sitting. Her family was there her husband and her two kids in the row behind her all asleep.

He walked up to her row and kneeled down next to her looking deeply at her face. "She's my best friend you know?" He looked up at her mother.

"You were her best friend Doctor. Now you should go before she wakes up." He stood up slowly still staring at Donna; he leaned over and kissed her on the head.

"Tell her she's fantastic and brilliant for me will you?"

"I will, goodbye Doctor."

"Goodbye." He walked back to his seat sliding down into his chair not realizing that Rose was waking up next to him.

"Are you alright?"

"Donna's here."

"She is! Where is she? I want to go and say hello," before she could stand up he grabbed her arm.

"You can't it'll kill her."

"What did you have a bad parting? That's got nothing to do with me, I can still go and say hello."

"No, Rose I mean it. It will kill her to see you because she'll remember."

"Doctor, what aren't you telling me?" she turned around to face him. "What's wrong with Donna?"

"Donna, she couldn't keep the mind of a time lord or it would kill her. So…I had to take it away and everything that would remind her of it or of me. If she remembers she dies."

"So…she doesn't remember any of it? She doesn't remember all of the fantastic things you showed her? Or how important she is?"

He shook his head looking down at his lap, "no."

"That's horrible."

* * *

John scrolled down the holographic list with his screwdriver, sorting it into different categories. One was things that he did with Rose, the other things done with other companions, looking for something that didn't belong.

He took his glasses of and cleaned them on his t-shirt. Putting them on he spotted something. "There!" He clicked on the line of text that read: SONIC DEVICE TRIED TO PASS THROUGH AIRPORT SECURITY 2011 UTAH, AMERICA. The words expanded across the screen along with a picture of the device. "Amelia, does this look familiar?" Amy looked up from the files she was looking at.

"That's the Doctors screwdriver! Is that him!?"

"Um, let me see…" he started to speed read through the article, "man in bowtie with floppy hair, large chin…accompanied by a young blond girl!" His heart started to beat excitedly at the mention of her he started jumping around the room and hugging the four people around him.

"Does it say anything else? Is it any more specific?" River said reading over the article that made John so ecstatic.

"Isn't it specific enough?" Come on we have a year to look through. He grabbed Amelia and Rivers hands and pulled them into the Tardis followed by Rory and Jack. "Now, should we start in America or England? They're probably making their way to London so we should start there. We don't want to overshoot them so let's start with December and make our way back." He threw a lever forward, on the console, causing the entire machine to shake.

He ran to the door grabbing a thin grey jacket that was thrown over one of the corals. "Don't just stand there!" He pushed the doors back and glanced back at the worn out group behind him. "We have some people to find," and he stepped out into a snowy London.

5


	22. Chapter 22

"_Amy, it's time to wake up."_ She rolled over in bed and looked at her watch. 10:07. She sat up and pulled the blanket around her.

_"Why?" _She turned and looked at Rory. 1938 suited him well. He looked like he had lived in this time for his entire life.

_"I have to go to work and I don't want you to stay in bed all day like I know you've been doing for the past three months."_

_ "What else could I do?"_

_ "I don't know Amy," _He grabbed her hands and started to pull her out of the bed, _"Why don't you go for a walk? We live right next to the park."_

She stood up and walked into the closet putting on a clean dress and some shoes. She walked to the dresser and brushed through her hair. He grabbed her hand and they walked out of their building together.

_"Thank you." _He bent over and kissed her and then left her to go to the park. She looked back at the building seriously considering going back inside and waiting for Rory to come back.

It had been three months since they had found themselves in the twentieth century and she still woke up some days expecting to be in their home or on the Tardis. It hurt waking up to see the New York skyline.

She took a deep breath and stepped out in the park. It was the end of summer and the leaves were just beginning to turn colors. She walked down several paths, avoiding as many people as she possibly could.

She didn't stop until she found the dock. It was small and quiet. No one ever came here and she could hardly hear anything other than the birds.

It was the most peaceful place she had been in months. She sat down with her legs crossed in front of her and stared out at the water.

* * *

"Amelia are you coming?" John said pulling the red head out of the Tardis after she didn't leave when the rest of the group had.

He pulled her outside, the wind was blowing harshly and the snow hit her face. She grabbed the thick jacket she had taken from the wardrobe and wrapped it tightly around her. "John, aren't you freezing?"

She looked up at the man who was only wearing a thin jacket. "Nah, we're almost there anyway."

"Almost where?" He pulled her around the corner and up the steps of a well sized house. River, Rory, and Jack, who had been waiting by the mail box, followed quickly behind them. He knocked on the door and took a step back and the door was opened almost instantly.

"Oh my gosh it's freezing! Get in here. Out of all the days in December you choose today. Hurry all of you, quickly get in." Martha ushered the group into her house.

The group of five quickly filed into the room. Jack gave Martha a peck on the cheek as they walked in. "Well then, let's have some tea. Mickey!" Mickey walked in carrying a tray filled with tea cups.

"Right so John here's yours, Amy, Rory, River, and Jack." She handed them each specific cups all made with different amounts of sugar and cream.

"How do you know I wanted two sugars?" Rory said looking over at the strange woman who somehow knew who he was.

"That's how you took it last time." Martha stood up and took the tray back to the kitchen.

"Martha we're you expecting us?" Jack said drinking down his tea, finally getting warmer.

"You told us to, so here we are. I haven't been very patient though. You can ask Mickey I had a countdown and everything."

Mickey nodded. "She's more excited about this than she is about Christmas tomorrow."

"It's Christmas Eve?" John said speaking up for the first time since they had entered the house. Mickey nodded. John stood up from where he had been sitting. "Martha, Mickey I don't know how long it has been since you have seen me but I haven't seen you in years." He grabbed them both in his arms and kissed them both on the heads.

"Well, you told us to remind you that everyone needs a good night sleep and that you can't keep running on empty like this. Come on we've prepared your rooms." Martha grabbed John's hand and led him and the group upstairs.

"Alright," Mickey said walking down the hallway, "In this room we have Rory and Amy," he pushed the door open, "across from them we have River, then down here we have Jack, and finally here we have John's room."

Amy walked into their room and a smile grew on her face. "It's perfect! It looks just like our room!" She ran over to the bed and jumped onto it.

"I had a while to get it ready for you, eight months to be exact." Martha beamed at how happy Amy looked, "I asked you if you wanted anything for Christmas when I would see you in the future and this is what you asked me for. Jack on the other hand…"

"Look at how brilliant this is. Martha Jones you are amazing." Jack picked her up and swung her around and then went back to his room that was full of all of his favorite junk foods and movies.

River walked into her room and on the pillow tied nicely was a brilliant blue bowtie. "He left that for you." Martha said coming up behind her. "He said you'd know what he meant by it, but just in case he also gave me this. She handed her a small piece of paper that simply had, _"See you soon sweetie. And don't forget to bring the bowtie, xxx your husband."_

She wrapped the piece of fabric around her hand and then turned around and gave Martha a large hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She pulled back and wiped a tear away from her face.

"I have to go check on John. Give him his present."

"Yes go, and thank you Martha, really this means so much to all of us. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

6


	23. Chapter 23

"Doctor, come on we're in London." She shook him as he woke up.

"Hello." He smiled at her.

"Hello," she smiled back, "I've never seen you sleep like this."

"Like what?"

"You know sleeping, with the bowtie and the floppy hair and the big chin." She gestured to him and started to laugh.

"Hey!"

"It is. Anyway we have to get off as soon as they start unloading so that Donna doesn't see me." The flight attendant started to talk on the intercom as everyone stood up.

"Ready?" He asked her grabbing her hand.

"Always." They walked off of the plane and started to leave the gate when a child accidentally ran into them, from behind. "Sorry," Rose said smiling down at her. The girl was young; at most she was six years old. Her hair was blonde and it was pulled back into a single braid. A red headed woman came running up after her. Rose, noticing who it was, dashed behind a column leaving the Doctor alone.

"Sorry mate, what did I tell you about running in the airport Elizabeth?" She grabbed the little girls hand and started to walk away when he started to talk to her.

"No, no it's okay." The Doctor stared at her, she looked so amazing. He wished that he could talk to her and tell her about everything. He wished that he could tell her a joke or just make her smile. "I'm Joh—err Mickey." He cringed a little inside but knew that Rose could still hear him and stuck out his hand for her to shake."

"Donna, Donna Noble." She took the hand. "Look sorry really I'd love to talk but I have to go or I'll lose my family."

"Of course, they're beautiful Donna, your family."

"Thanks mate." She turned around and rejoined her family, which included a concerned looking Sylvia. He watched them as the left not noticing Rose slip out from behind the column and slip her hand into his.

"Come on, we have a band of misfits to find."

* * *

John walked into the simple cream room and sank down on the queen sized bed. Sometimes he had to remember that he was human, a human that had to sleep. There was a small knock on the door. "Come in."

"Hello John." Martha peeked her head in carrying a small package. She walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. "This is for you." She handed him the gift wrapped package. "Before you open it you should know that she wrapped it not me. I don't even know what's inside of it."

He flipped the package over. It was wrapped in Christmas wrapping and had a small red bow tied around it. On it was written _John _in cursive in her hand writing.

"Is it weird if I smell it?" He said laughing looking up at where Martha was moments before realizing that he was actually alone. He shrugged and inhaled. It smelled like her, if that was even possible for a package that had been gathering dust for months.

He almost didn't want to open it. He gently opened the end and before he could undo anymore of it he saw some writing on the other side. _Just rip it open!_ He didn't just in case there might have been another note.

Inside was a frame and an envelope. He flipped the frame over and his grin grew enormously. The picture was one of him and Rose. It wasn't an old picture, it was a new one. It was of her kissing him on the cheek as he smiled for the picture.

It was in Martha's living room, he could tell from the red sofa behind them. He could also see everyone behind them at the table laughing and talking. He put the frame down on the table next to him and picked the envelope back up. He opened the envelope to see a small hand written note from Rose.

_Doctor, _

_ Hello! It's been a while (for you at least). For me I just saw you a few seconds ago before you left to go to the bathroom. It's the first time you've let me out of your sight in hours. You even tried to convince me to come with you! I better stop telling you what's happening though, don't want you to know everything that's happening today. I'm so unbelievable happy that I found you again, and I'm never leaving you again. Angel or no angel._

_ I just wanted to let you know that you find us. The Doctor and I. Martha will let you know where to look and let's just say I'm so glad to have you back. I can't wait until you can see me again. I love you more than anything, and I would never forget that. _

_Love, _

_Rose Smith_

He reread that letter and then folded it up and put it in his pocket. He laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He grabbed the frame off the table next to him and gazed at it again. He was going to find Rose tomorrow, no matter what.


	24. Chapter 24

"_I dare you."_ Her tongue stuck out as she smiled.

_"Well if you dare me." _He stood up and made his way to the end of the dock. She stood up and walked behind him, as he edged his way toward the water, and then pushed him. He started to fall into the lake but before he did he grabbed her hand and pulled her in with him.

They both emerged from the water seconds later, he was laughing and she was pretending to be mad at him. _"How dare you!" _She stuck her tongue out at him.

_ "How DARE I Rose?" _

_ "Oh shut up," _she swam over to him and tried to push him further down into the water but failed.

_"ROSE!" _Jackie yelled from the beach and beckoned them over. They swam over to the ladder and climbed back onto the dock and then started to walk over to Jackie.

_ "Right so how many vacations are we going to take to the lake with your family?" _John asked looking over at her. This was the sixth time they had been to the family lake house this summer.

_ "I don't know how long is it going to take you to build a new Tardis?"_ They had only been in Pete's world without time travel for one year, but both had been anxious without it.

_ "Fair point."_

_ "Come on you two, into the house lunch is ready. Oh and your sopping wet." _They walked in and wrapped towels around each other and sat down at the table with Jackie, Pete, and Tony.

John instantly shoved his sandwich into his mouth. _"Mommy are the Doctor and Rose going to get married?"_ John almost choked on his sandwich as a response to Tony's question.

_"Not for a while Tony." _Rose answered and casually ate her carrots. John's eyes dashed around the room and the only one to flash him a look was from Pete. His eyes seemed to say _you're in it for the long haul mate. _

After panicking for a moment he realized that he was actually okay with this. He reached over and grabbed Rose's hand, his smile enormous.

* * *

She sat in bed awake. She felt silly sleeping with a bowtie wrapped around her hand, but the smell of him on it was undeniable. Looking over at the clock she saw the time. Twelve o' one, merry Christmas.

She stood up and gathered the nightgown that Martha had purchased her, or for all she knew she had bought herself in the future. She slipped on her slippers and walked into the bath room. She tucked the piece of fabric into her pocket and looked into the mirror.

It was hard for her to be strong, to pretend like it wasn't killing her. Her husband was lost, lost with someone he had loved before. Someone he had loved so much that he had let her go. She knew that he could never love her that much.

She had to be brave though, because if she wasn't, the bravest person in their group would be Rory. And who knows if he could keep things together.

River sat down on the edge of the tub and leaned her head against the cool tile, doing so she noticed a bright pink sticky note sticking out of one of the magazines.

She opened it up and smiled. The magazine she had picked up was for men's fashion, the page the sticky note was on was filled with at least thirty different bowties. The sticky note had something written in the Doctor's handwriting on it. _Since it is Christmas. _

"Oh that man." She took the magazine back into the bedroom with her setting it on the night stand. She took the bowtie out of her pocket and sat it on the magazine.

* * *

"ROOOOOOSE where are we going?" the Doctor trailed behind her dragging his feet as they went, walking through a neighborhood just outside of London.

"I thought we were going to see Mickey and Martha?" She turned around a corner and started to walk up the street.

"Can't we eat first?"

"We can eat once we get there I'm sure they have food at their house."

"Right," he ran up to her and grabbed her arm, interlocking it with his. "So Mickey, Mickey, Mickey. How do you think he's doing?"

"Good I suppose, probably working at Torchwood or something,"

"Martha too?"

"Suppose. Listen Doctor why don't you ever go and visit them? Martha and Mickey I mean, not Torchwood."

He ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know really. Maybe I should go visit them more often"

"Promise me something Doctor."

"Anything."

"Come and visit me and John after this is all over with. Don't leave us behind."

"Rose Tyler I think I could do that." He looked down at her with a smile. They stopped in front of a well sized house with a beautiful garden and a door painted dark blue. "Is this it?"

She looked over at him and laughed. "As if the door didn't give it away."


	25. Chapter 25

John rolled over and looked at the time. It was six in the morning. That was early enough to wake up right? He stood up and walked down to the kitchen, it was still dark and he barely noticed Mickey sitting by the counter eating a bowl of cereal.

"Hey John." He said without turning around, "merry Christmas." He shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. John walked over to the seat next to Mickey and poured some cereal into a bowl and ate next to him.

"Merry Christmas Mickey. Is anyone else awake?"

"Nope just us. I'm pretty sure Jack just watched movies all night."

Martha walked into the kitchen next and flipped the light on. She didn't notice the two men until she turned around and nearly had a heart attack.

"Who in their right mind eats cereal at six on Christmas morning in the dark!" The two men looked up at her neither saying anything. "Right, so I'm going to make a proper Christmas breakfast." She reached into the cupboard and grabbed a box of pancake mix. "Pancakes anyone?"

* * *

The Doctor reached forward and knocked on the door. He started to rock back and forth on his feet and turned to look back at Rose who shrugged. "They know we're coming right?"

"I told them we were." At that moment the door flung over to reveal Martha and Mickey. Without a word Mickey stepped forward and scooped Rose up in an enormous hug. He dug his head into her shoulder and didn't let go of her. She started to cry when she saw that he was.

"I thought I'd never see you again." He let go of her.

"Me too Mickey." The Doctor was smiling like an idiot as Martha was staring at him.

"Who are you?" She said to him.

"It's me Martha." He walked up to her and placed her hands on his hearts. "See two hearts."

"Are you really him?"

"Yes."

"Okay. You should come in, it looks like it's going to rain." Before they walked in the Doctor enveloped Martha into an enormous hug. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Rose's face grew somber.

"Mickey I have something to tell you and it isn't going to be easy." Rose took her best friend's hand and they walked inside together. She took a deep breath as she sat Mickey and Martha down. "They're gone. Mickey they're gone. All of them."

* * *

Amy woke up later than everyone except for Jack. She hasn't had a nightmare that night for the first time in years. She rolled over and looked at Rory. He was awake and looking at her.

"You didn't kick me."

"I didn't have a nightmare."

"Good, merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, is that," she sniffed the air, "pancakes?!" She grabbed Rory's hand and pulled him out into the kitchen. They walked over to the small group of Martha, Mickey, River, and John.

"Good morning Amy!" Martha beamed at her, "do you want a pancake?" Amy nodded and sat down next to John by the counter.

Martha finished the pancake and turned the stove off. She handed Amy and Rory pancakes and turned to look at the scraggly group. "So I think we should do presents first and then I'll give you everything you need to find them."

She walked over to a small tree in the corner of their living room that had presents stacked under it. "Amy, John, River, Rory, and Jack. Where's Jack?" She had been handing out packages to everyone but stopped when he realized they were missing jack. She turned and looked at Mickey who shrugged.

"I don't know, guess he's still asleep."

"I'll get him." John said standing up from his stool.

* * *

"That's horrible Rose, I'm so sorry truly." Martha walked over to her and gave her a large hug. Then she went over to Mickey, who's face was buried in his hands.

"We figured if we found you somehow they could also find you." Rose reached her hand out and grabbed Mickeys with it. She looked over to the Doctor. "Now what?"

"Martha where do you work?" He asked turning to look at her.

"Unit I'm the head of the medic department."

"I have an idea..."

* * *

"Jack wake up. It's Christmas." John walked into his room and threw the man a shirt and pair of jeans from the wardrobe.

"Five more minutes." He rolled over and covered his head with a pillow.

"Come on Jack this means a lot to Martha and we need to go find them afterwards." He sat up and groaned in annoyance.

"Fine, but just because I smell pancakes." He stood up and pulled on his shirt and jeans.

"What did you do in here last night?" The room was littered with wrappers and blankets were everywhere.

"I watched movies and slept."

"More like hibernated."


	26. Chapter 26

_"What do you think?"_ His grin was enormous as he took her blindfold off.

_ "What is it?"_ She turned and looked back at him, eyebrows raised.

_ "It's a house."_

_ "Ya what about it?"_

_ "It's our house."_

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "I bought us a house, this house."_

_ "You bought us a house?"_

_ "Yes."_ She had an enormous grin as she pulled the white gate open and walked down the red brick path.

_ "So what your saying is that this gate is ours, and this garden, and that gnome is ours?"_

_ "Yes, although maybe not that gnome for long."_

_ "And that, that fantastic and brilliant door is ours."_ She ran up to the dark blue door and grabbed the handle. _"Can I go in?"_He nodded and she pushed the door in.

She walked through the entire house stopping and making comments like, _"look an island,"_or_, "I love the closet."_ She didn't say anything negative the entire time. They ended in the back garden. She took her shoes off and stuck her feet into the pool._"I love it, but I thought the Tardis was almost done."_

_ "It is but, I thought we could have a place to come and stay other than the Tardis. Somewhere we could live a real human life, since we are human after all."_

_ "You sure? This is a big deal."_

_ "Yes Rose I'm sure."_He leaned over and untied his own shoes and pulled off his socks. He sat down next to her sticking his own feet in the water.  
_ "So can we move in?"_

_ "Yep."_They stayed there for several minutes until he stood up and grabbed her hand and they walked back into their home together.

* * *

"Well what do you think we should do?" Rose looked over at him as they sat on Martha's sofa.

"We could make a signal."

"A signal?"

"Yeah like the bat signal."

"The batman signal?" He stood up and rushed towards the door.

"Martha," he yelled into the other room, "do you know where I could find some alien technology?"

* * *

Jack walked out into the living room to see the group waiting for him. "Good Jack's here we can start with the presents." Martha said handing Jack his gift.  
"Who first?"

"Jack why don't you start."

"Okay," he started to unwrap the gift and pulled out an alien gun. "Oh I really wanted this!"  
"I know, you gave me it to give to you."

"I did?"

"Future you." They all unwrapped their gifts one by one and each was something they really wanted, until they got to John.  
He was the last person to unwrap something and he placed the large box on his lap. Martha shot Mickey a smile as they both knew what it was. He ripped the packaging and then tore the cardboard box open. "An umbrella?" He pulled the umbrella out of the box and looked down at it baffled.

"Why would I give myself an umbrella?"

"You'll have to wait and see." Martha said flashing him a smile.

* * *

"Right so this is where we put all of our alien tech we don't know what to do with." She pushed the doors open to an enormous warehouse. "Will this work?"

"I just might." He pulled out his screw driver and started to search through the piles.

They searched for hours. Rose and Martha not really sure of what they were looking for, but looked anyway. "Okay, this will help me start." He picked up something that looked like a satellite dish and a toaster. "Lets go."

They started to walk out of the massive warehouse but stopped when they got to the doors. "Oh it's pouring!" Martha said, the first to look out of the door.

* * *

"Alright Martha, tell them what they need to know." Mickey said when they had finished with lunch.

"Alright I will. So here's the date. And John this is your time and place. Amy, River, Jack, and Rory this is your time and place." She handed John and River separate papers.

"Wait we have different times and places?" Amy asked.

"The times are pretty similar but the places are different yes."

"So should we leave?" Rory asked turning to look at John.

"I suppose we should," he walked over to Martha and gathered her in a hug. "I guess I'll see you soon."

"Don't give me that John."

"Give you what?"

"See you soon. I want to see you in less than a month," he nodded as they walked out towards the Tardis.

"I promise. I'll see you soon Martha Jones."

"In less than a month John."

"Promise." Mickey and Martha hugged everyone as they stepped into the time machine. As it started to disappear Mickey wrapped his arm around Martha.

"It's weird to have them back in our lives isn't it?" Mickey said looking down at her.

"A good weird though."

"Yeah a good weird."


	27. Chapter 27

"Do you have a tarp? I need a tarp." He asked turning to Martha after realizing that there was no way to get the technology he had back to the Smith home dry.

"Why would I have a tarp?" Martha questioned back at him.

"You are in a giant warehouse and you don't have a tarp?"

"Why would we need a tarp?"

"I don't know, for when you want to transport things when it's raining." His arms were flailing around as he tried to emphasize what he was saying while pacing back and forth.

Rose interrupted his rant, "I saw one back at your house Martha, I'll run and grab it." Before either one of them could say anything to stop her from leaving she ran into the rain.

"Should we stop her?" Martha asked him.

"No, if she wanted us to go with her she would have told us. I think she really wants to be alone."

* * *

"_Rose it's raining_." He looked at his wife who was starting to get soaked.

"_So_?" She asked her face plastered with an enormous smile.

"_You can't go on a picnic in the rain_."

"_Watch me_." She skipped out the Tardis and onto the beach. She looked back up at him as she spread out the blanket. "_You could join me if you wanted to_."

She sat down flashing him another brilliant smile.

"_Rose it's pouring_." He complained from the doorway of the Tardis, still perfectly dry.

"_It is? I barely noticed_." She smiled at him her tongue barely sticking out of her mouth. He sighed and took of his jacket and walked out into the rain.

He laid down next to her. She was completely drenched now but she still looked absolutely gorgeous. "_I love you and we're both going to catch colds, you know that right?"_

She leaned over and kissed him.

"_I love you too and what's life without a little risk? Now_," she reached into the basket she had brought with her and pulled out a sopping wet sandwich, "_eat up_."

"_Rose,_" he whined.

"_I worked hard on that sandwich."_

_ "It's soggy."_

"_So are you." _

_ "I wonder why." _They had both caught colds that night; but neither seemed to mind having the excuse to stay in bed all day eating soup and watching old movies together. It had been one of her favorite sick days, because she had spent it next to him.

She walked through the streets to get back to Mickey and Martha's house. It was raining but she didn't care. It reminded her of him and that day in the rain. It reminded her of how much she missed him and how lost she felt without his hand in hers.

She didn't know how long she was going to be stuck here but it was killing her. When she found him again, she would never let him leave her sight.

Her shoes were heavy now with water and her jacket dragged her down. She took them both off and decided to hide them somewhere until she came back with the tarp and probably Mickey. She found an alley next to a shop on her way and decided to hide them next to the dumpster. Hopefully they would still be there when she got back.

Walking barefoot and without a jacket she started to make her way to the Smith's house. She knew the city well, not only from growing up there, but the layout was the same in this universe as it was in Pete's.

She missed them. She missed Tony, who was so young and so full of potential. He used to love to have piggy back rides from John. Whenever Rose's family would come and visit them Tony would insist on having a ride from John, even if they weren't going anywhere.

Once her family had gone to the zoo together and Tony had made John carry him through the entire zoo. It made her smile to remember watching the little boy on John's shoulders pointing at the zebra's and informing John that they were horses and not zebras.

She missed Pete. Who would always try to comfort her or make her smile even if everyone else thought it was impossible. Rose remembered one night after having an enormous fight with her mum about wedding details Pete was the one person who had changed her mood from one of anger to a happy one.

He had told her a ridiculous pun, "_Hey Rose, I can't find my rutabaga."_ He walked over to where she was pouting in front of the vegetable garden and sat down next to her.

_ "Your rutabaga?"_ She looked over at him, a hint of a smile creeping on her face.

_ "Yeah have you seen it?"_

_ "No, sorry."_ He looked genuinely disappointed but then shrugged.

_ "Oh well hopefully it will turnip."_ She broke out into laughter. Her sour mood evaporating. He was the best step father anyone could ask for, because he was, in more than one way, her dad.

She missed her mother most of all however. Even the thought that Jackie was permanently no longer part of her life ripped her heart to shreds. Her mother was her best friend.

She remembered the time that Elton Pope had tried to use her mum to get to the Doctor. She had been so furious that the thought of a human absorbing monster attacking innocent people had come second to her mother's feelings.

Jackie had always been there for Rose, every time. She felt so alone now without them, without a family.

One of the only things that had gotten her through all of this was John, and now he was gone too. She knew that she couldn't get Jackie, Tony, or Pete back but she would get John back, no mater the cost.


	28. Chapter 28

"_What are you doing?" _The little boy came up next to her, next to where she was sitting on her suitcase.

_"I'm waiting for the man in the blue box to come back and get me."_

_ "How long have you been here Amy?"_ He sat down on the ground next to her after she refused to give him any space on the suitcase.

_"All night."_

_ "That's not safe, you could've gotten kidnapped or a cold."_

_ "I was perfectly safe Rory."_ She rested her head against her hands and stared contently at the space that the Tardis had been the night before.

He looked up at the very stubborn girl next to him. _"What was he like?"_

_ "What was who like?"_

_ "The man in the blue box, what was he like?"_

_ "He was brave and funny and he hated yogurt and bacon."_

_ "He hated bacon?" _The little boy asked digging a stick into the dirt and started to draw pictures into it.

_"Yeah, he liked fish fingers and custard though."_

_ "Together?"_

_ "Yeah."_

_ "That's disgusting." _The little girl shrugged and looked back over to where the blue box had been hours before. _"How long are you going to wait?"_

_ "As long as it takes."_ She crossed her arms and stared at the empty spot like if she looked away she would lose her chance to travel with him.

_"Can I wait with you?"_ He looked over at the red headed girl, who looked quite lonely. He knew that she would never lie about something like this. She was never one to lie for attention.

_ "It might be a while."_

_ "I'm good at waiting."_ She scooted over on the suitcase and he sat next to her, staring at the vacant spot in her garden with her.

* * *

She sat on the seat next to the console watching as John moved around setting the coordinates for the Tardis. She looked next to her on the seat; Rory sat there holding her hand also staring at John.

She leaned her head against his arm, he looked over at her surprised that she had changed her position. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just done waiting."

"Me too," he leaned his head down and kissed the top of hers.

"Thank you," She looked up at him, at the man who waited for her.

"For what?"

"For waiting."

"It hasn't been that bad really, there haven't been too many dull moments."

"No, not for waiting now, but back then."

"As a centurion?"

"No, as a little boy next to me on the suitcase, I never knew how much I needed someone back then. I'm grateful you were there."

"Me too Amy."

* * *

River was in her room changing her shoes. She had a feeling that she would be doing a lot of walking today. She pulled off the red heels she was wearing and pulled on a pair of boots.

She hadn't seen him in a while and was worried about him. He could manage himself and she knew that, but didn't stop her from worrying about him.

After changing her shoes she walked back into the console room to see that everyone else was getting ready too. Jack was eating yet another sandwich while talking and flirting with Amy and Rory, who were seated next to the console. John was setting the coordinates that he would leave herself, Jack, Amy, and Rory at.

The Tardis made the whooshing sound it made whenever the brake was left on. "You left the brake on again John." He glanced up and looked at River.

"That's the best part." He smiled at her, "Okay we're here." Jack wolfed down the rest of his sandwich and was the first one to the door. He pushed it over to reveal a white hallway.

"Well, this is going to be a little harder than I thought. I guess we have some searching to do." He walked out into the sterile hallway followed closely by Amy and Rory. She was the last one to leave. She turned to see John, who was bent over the controls. Flipping switches and pulling levers.

"John, how did you know me? You didn't know Amy or Rory but you knew me." He looked up shocked from her question.

"We met before, back when I was still a time lord, still him."

"What happened? Why won't he tell me about the first time he met me? I didn't even know that I would see him as you."

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Spoilers."

"John, don't give me that."

"That's all I can give you." He let go of her and backed up staring at her face, staring at the beautiful woman who had given her life for his, and he couldn't even say thank you. "Let's meet back at Martha's house okay? After you find what ever you're meant to find and I find what I'm meant to."

"You look at me like I'm a ghost."

"You're not a ghost River."

"But you look at me like I am one. Goodbye John, I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye River Song," she left the Tardis and closed the door behind her.


	29. Chapter 29

"Right so should we split up?" Jack said turning around to watch the Tardis disappear.

"I suppose, Rory go with Amy, I'll go with you Jack. Let's meet at the front doors in an hour, if this place even has them." River started to walk down one side of the corridor. Jack quickly trailed behind her.

Amy and Rory started to go the other way down the hallway. "Do you think he's here?" Amy asked as the turned the corner.

"Yeah, I do Amy. Although I don't know where here is. John could've been a little more helpful in telling us where we are." They started to walk through a large stretch of hallway when Amy saw a sign posted on the wall. It read: UNIT STOREHOUSE 6.

"Unit, isn't that…?" She asked turning to him.

"Yeah, I think it is."

"How big do you think this place is?" They turned another corner to reveal another identical hallway.

"I have no idea Amy, but so far it looks enormous."

* * *

"Jack, please do hurry." River said as she quickly walked in front of him as he tried to keep up.

"I'm going at a normal pace." He said back as he stopped walking and ran to catch up to her.

"Look, if he's here I would like to find him before he leaves."

"Trust me if there's anything that I understand it's how to try and find that man before he disappears ." She turned around and looked at him.

"What would you know about that Jack?"

"Did he not tell you about me?"

"I know that you're a fixed point in time, I can feel it."

"But do you know what that means River?" He started to walk again slower this time and she followed behind.

"What Jack? What does that mean?" She asked impatiently.

"I'm decades old, I've tried to die and I just can't. I spent years looking for the Doctor once, just for him to try and loose me because I'm not natural. I know what it's like to try and find him, even if sometimes he doesn't want to be found."

"So you're not human?"

"No, I am human; at least I was until Rose saved me."

"Rose? What does she have to do with this?" They turned the corner.

"Has he told you guys anything about her? She has to do with almost everything."

"That doesn't answer my question Jack."

"She wanted to save the Doctor from the Daleks, not just the Daleks but from the emperor too. All she had was the Tardis so she absorbed the time vortex and saved him and saved me. But she saved me too much and now I can never die."

"She absorbed the time vortex? Wouldn't that have killed her?" They turned another corner.

"It almost did, but he took it from her and that's why he regenerated." River looked down at her hand. The bow tie was tied around her wrist. She knew that he loved her, but it seemed like she underestimated how much he loved Rose.

"Why, why did he leave her if he loved her so much?"

"Why? Because he wanted her to be happy I suppose." He saw the unhappy expression on Rivers face, "but he loves you, I can tell, he really loves you."

"He doesn't love me as much as he loved her." They turned yet another corner to reveal what seemed to be a main hallway.

"He married you though didn't he?"

"Just because he wanted me to kill him."

"What?!" Jack said turning to look at her.

"Long story. Look I understand that you know him Jack. I'm sorry I doubted that. I just want to find him and find him soon."

* * *

"Martha where are you going?" He asked as she left the door way walking further into the building.

"I thought you wanted a tarp. There has to be one here somewhere." Her heels clicked as she left him in search of a tarp. "You know," she said turning around, "this would go by a lot faster if you looked for one too."

Martha Jones was still the same independent woman he had left. He had damaged her less than the others, maybe that was because she had walked away where the others couldn't. Right, so he needed to find a tarp.

* * *

The rain kept on pouring down as she walked barefoot through the city. When she came to the street she thought she was back there again, just for a minute.

_"Thanks for the walk."_ He said as they approached the street they lived on hand in hand.

_"Thank you. I'm the one who wanted to go on it." _They started to turn up on the street when she stopped to look at the street sign. _"Don't you think it's strange that we live on Galley Way?"_

_ "No, why?"_

_ "Cause if you say it fast enough it sounds like Gallifrey. Galley Way, Gallifrey, get it?" He laughed as he looked down at her. _

_ "I guess you're right." _

She stared at the sign on the street. It looked the same, it was in the same place, bent at the same angle, and it said the same name, Galley Way.

She walked up the street wondering if at 42 Galley Way she would find the same house with the same blue door.


	30. Chapter 30

After he threw the Tardis into drive it slowly came to a stop. He pulled on his grey jacket but paused and looked back towards the hallway. He took off his jacket and ran to the wardrobe, never stopping until he reached it.

He walked half way through the closet to where he knew it was. Rose had always cringed when he had worn it, because it reminded her of him. It was his jacket though, the Doctor wore bowties now. He wore his long coat.

He pulled it over his light blue t-shirt. It was strange wearing it with a t-shirt and jeans, but it was who he was now. He wasn't the Doctor anymore, but he was himself.

He was John Smith to most, but he was the Doctor to Rose and that's all that mattered really. He walked over to the front door of the Tardis and pushed them open.

It was raining, pouring to be exact. A grin grew across his face as he ran across the room and grabbed the umbrella that Martha had given him earlier.

As he walked through the doorway he pushed the umbrella open and stepped into the rain. It reminded him of when he had gone on a picnic with her.

"_Rose it's raining_." He watched as she left the Tardis in what could only be described as a small hurricane.

"_So_?" Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

"_You can't go on a picnic in the rain_." He knew she wouldn't listen to him; she always wanted the adventure even if it was going to end up making her sick.

"_Watch me_." She walked out and spread her favorite old blanket onto the ground, getting it soaking wet, "_You could join me if you wanted to_."

She plopped down on the blanket and smiled at him beckoning him to sit with her, with just one look, it was working.

"_Rose it's pouring_." He stated, knowing if he went out there out with her they would both end up catching a cold.

"_It is? I barely noticed_." He sighed knowing that he couldn't resist her and her adorable smile. He took off his jacket, not wanting to get the things in his pockets ruined.

He walked out next to her and laid down, staring at the dark grey clouds above them. "_I love you and we're both going to catch colds, you know that right?"_

She leaned over and kissed him.

"_I love you too and what's life without a little risk?"_

He missed her so much, it was unbearable at times. He knew that if she was out here somewhere in this rain, she probably wasn't wearing shoes or a jacket. She didn't like to be weighed down, which meant that she was also probably catching a cold.

He had no idea where he was, it looked familiar though, really familiar. He glanced up at the street sign as he turned the corner. He was at the corner of Orchard Street and Galley Way. He almost didn't believe the sign, until he glanced up the street.

* * *

"Martha have you found a tarp yet?" He yelled after deciding to follow after her.

"No Doctor, I've been looking for exactly two minutes."

"Right…so where do you think a tarp is?"

"I don't know Doctor; if I did, I wouldn't be looking would I. Look if this is going to go any faster I need you to search somewhere other than where I just looked." She turned around from where she was hunting and pointed across the large room to a doorway, "Why don't you go look over there. That's where they unload everything that comes here so it's probably your best bet."

He followed her command and left her to search by herself. After several minutes of silence she heard a large noise as a pile in the main room toppled over. "Doctor, that's not where I told you to look!" She left the small room adjacent to the commotion prepared to scold a clumsy time lord, but was taken aback at what she actually found.

* * *

"Amy we've already been here. See this is room J-12 we've past it twice." Rory said as they walked through a white hallway not for the second time, but the third.

"Well then why don't you direct us then." He sighed and started to try to open the doors on the hallway. "What are you doing Rory?"

"These rooms might have some way of helping us figure out how to get out of here, a-ha," one of the doors opened and he walked into a dull looking office. They stated to go through it until Amy looked behind the door.

"Look it's a fire escape plan." She pointed out.

"Does it show the entire building?" Rory asked coming up behind her.

"Yeah," she studied it for a moment and then turned to look at her husband. "To get to the front door we walk down this hallway make a right, then a left, then two rights, and then we cut across the loading dock and the main storage area to get to the main doors."

"Okay, ready to go?" She nodded and reached down and grabbed his hand pulling him out into the hallway.

* * *

Rose was completely soaked now. She walked up the street until she reached it, 42 Galley Way. It was the same house as it had been when they had moved into it. The door was still the same dark blue. The white gate was still identical. She smiled as she saw the same gnome sitting in the middle of the flowers. The same gnome John had gladly donated years ago.

Everything was the same that is everything but him. He was still missing. She wished that he was here. That he was on Galley Way with her.


	31. Chapter 31

"Eh, who's out there?" She asked as she walked over to the fallen pile. A woman walked out from behind it, a smile stretching across River's face as she saw Martha.

"Martha! I'm so glad to see you." River came up to her and enwrapped her in a hug.

"Do, do I know you?" Martha said surprised by the strange woman, who seemed to know her.

"Oh, well I guess not. I'm River Song."

"Did you do this?" Martha gestured to the mound of fallen alien technology. River glanced back to the toppled stack of metal and wires.

"No, that was me. I had to get this, you know avoid a paradox." A familiar voice said coming down from the top of the pile.

"Jack?" He reached the ground with a thud and smiled at Martha, in one hand he held a gun that he had pried from the mound, identical to the one the future Martha had given him.

"Hello Martha, got you a present, and by you a present I mean me a present for you to give me later." He handed her the gun and then grabbed her in a large hug.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" She said still processing everything that was happening.

"Right, well River and I are just looking for her husband. Seen him lately? He looks—actually I have no idea what he looks like—River?" He turned and looked at the woman next to him.

"Floppy hair, bow tie, childish grin."

"You mean the Doctor? You're married to the Doctor?" Her heart seemed to sink a little in her chest.

"Another one? She didn't seem this way yesterday." River asked looking at Jack, noticing that Martha seemed to also be upset at the marital status of the Doctor.

"He has that effect, plus it takes a while to get used to the idea of a misses. Look Martha, have you seen him or Rose?" She shook her head yes and glanced over to where he had left.

"Yeah, he went to the loading bay."

* * *

"So I think that this is the loading bay," Rory said as they walked into the enormous room.

"Right so the main storage room's through there." Amy said pointing to the exit. He could hear them from where he stood on the opposite side of the room, still without a tarp. He almost didn't believe that they were there,

"Amy?" He said quietly at first but then he started to shout. "AMELIA? RORY? PONDS!?" He started to run across the room as fast as he could trying to see where they were around giant crates and boxes.

She heard him calling and almost didn't consider what she was hearing to be true. "Doctor? DOCTOR!?" She started to run to where she heard him, Rory trailing closely behind.

They found each other moments later. They stopped seconds before hitting each other head on, inches apart. He grabbed her into a large hug.

"Oh Amelia, don't do that again. Never leave me again."

"Leave you? You're the one who disappeared." She started to cry happily into his shoulder, as he held her tightly not wanting to ever let her go again, at the chance of losing her.

"You're the one with the terrible luck with angels." She laughed and he looked over at Rory.

He didn't let her go but moved her so that he was holding her with only one arm and grabbed Rory with the other.

"I told you, you couldn't get rid of us that easily." Rory said hugging him back.

"Oh Ponds, we seriously need to stop finding angels." He took a step back and looked at their faces.

"Who else is here? Is it just you two?"

"No," Amy answered, "Melody's here too, along with a captain named Jack." The Doctor's face became serious.

"You didn't leave her alone with him did you?"

"I'm sure they're fine Doctor, River can stand her own." Rory answered.

"I know that, I just don't want him flirting with her." He grabbed their hands and started to pull them out of the loading bay.

"Doctor, where are we going?" Rory asked as they walked into the main room.

"To find them, they're here right?"

"He looks jealous doesn't he?" Amy laughed.

"Martha!" The Doctor yelled trying to find her in yet another gigantic room.

"Martha's here?" Amy asked, the Doctor turned around and looked her in the face.

"How do you know Martha?"

"We met her while looking for you; she doesn't know us yet though." Rory answered for her.

"Doctor!" Someone responded. It wasn't Martha but River.

"River?!" They turned around another pile of technology and found the group of three. He let go of the Ponds and grabbed his wife.

"Hello sweetie," River said hugging her husband back as both of their smiles grew from ear to ear. He let go of her and turned to look at Jack.

"Doctor?" Jack asked hand extended for a hand shake. He took it.  
"Jack Harkness, I hope you haven't been flirting with my wife." Jack smiled and winked at River.

"No more than usual."

* * *

He was running up the street now. The rain was slowing him down and he had left the umbrella back at the street sign. He wasn't going to stop for anything now.

His smile was enormous as he looked up at 42 Galley Way. It wasn't the house that made him smile though. It was what was in front of it.


	32. Chapter 32

Her wet hair started to whip in front of her face as the wind started to pick up. She knew that Martha and the Doctor were probably waiting for her to come back but she couldn't stop staring at the house that in a parallel world had been there's.

_"Rose, what are you doing?" _He asked walking into their living room from the kitchen, half eaten banana in hand.

She was standing on the back of the sofa faced towards the wall holding the broom parallel to the top of the window. _"I'm measuring for curtains."_

_ "With a broom?" _he finished his banana and tossed the peel into the bin and walked over to her.

_"I couldn't find a tape measure, so I thought I could just compare it to the broom length."_

_ "The window's larger than the broom."_ He smiled up at her as she dropped the broom onto the floor and sighed. He grabbed her around the waist and helped her down from the back of the couch.

_"We have a tape measure." _He let go of her and walked into the kitchen and pulled open a drawer, revealing different tools. He grabbed the tape measure and the step ladder from the pantry. _"Why do you want new curtains anyway? I thought you liked the old ones."_

_ "You mean the ones the house had when we moved in here? They're different shades of red." _After taking the measurements he jumped off the ladder and walked over to where Rose had thrown the old curtains.

_"No they're not, you see," _he picked the two up and compared the shades, "_this is definitely a darker red, you're right." _

_ "Do you want to come with me? I know this great shop on main." _

_ "Rose I go with you everywhere, if you haven't noticed yet." _He gave her an enormous smile as he pulled her closer to him, _"but I know somewhere else we could look."_

_ "Where?"_

_ "It's a surprise, to the Tardis!" _He grabbed her hand and started to pull her behind him.

_"Allons-y!" _She yelled behind him and he turned around and looked at her, her grin almost matching his.

_"Hey that's my line."_

_ "So we don't get joint custody on catch phrases?" _She laughed as he pulled her into the Tardis. They came back hours later with curtains the Queen, or in this universe, President of England would have had, that is until they disappeared.

* * *

He almost fell twice running up the steep hill in the rain, but he never slowed down. He wanted to yell her name to get her attention but he still didn't completely believe that she was actually there.

* * *

Part of her wanted to open the gate and walk into the house, like she had so many times before. She wanted to be carrying a bag of groceries in, with John right behind her and her mum gossiping to her on her cell.

She could have stood there for hours, looking at the house, that was and wasn't hers.

He was seconds away from her now and he could truly see that it really was her. "Rose!" he yelled, she turned quickly to look at him.

At first she thought she was seeing a ghost, but then her face burst into an enormous smile. She ran the last few steps to him, jumping into his arms. "Tell me you're real; tell me I'm not dreaming." She cried into his neck.

"Oh Rose, I wouldn't dare!" He twirled her around in a circle finally setting her down so that he could look at her.

Her breathe caught for a second as she noticed his coat. "You're not the time lord Doctor are you?" He held up his left hand and wiggled his fingers so that she could see his wedding ring.

"Nah, I'm all yours Rose Smith." She grabbed him closely and kissed him.

"I've missed you more than you could know." She said as they finally stopped for breathe.

"Oh, I doubt that Rose." He hugged her tightly as the rain came to a stop. To their surprise a man walked out of their house carrying a large FOR SELL sign that blocked the man's view of the couple in front of his house. He walked through the drenched grass and was just about to wedge the sign into the ground when John stopped him, "we'll buy it."

The man, shocked, looked up from behind the sign first noticing John and Rose, "excuse me?"

"We'll buy it."

"Do you want to see it first?"

"Nah, I have a feeling its good."

"Do you want to know the price?"

'No, I'll just write you a blank check. You fill in what you think is right."

"Don't you want an inspection?" John shook his head as Rose giggled next to him.

"Nah, you look like an honest man, I trust you. When can you be out?"

"I—I can be out in two days, three tops." The shocked man shook his head as John handed him an empty check.

"See you then, oh no, it's raining again." John said as it started to pour again. "Rose we have some people to find." He grabbed her hand and they walked down the hill back to where the Tardis was, John picking up his abandoned umbrella as they walked past it.


	33. Chapter 33

They walked hand in hand into the large storage room. Jack was the first to notice their entrance into the room, "Rose Tyler!" He ran over to her and picked her swinging her around in a circle.

"Hello Jack," she beamed at him, after he sat her down, not seeing him for quite some time. Next they greeted the rest of the group. Rose went around hugging Amy, Rory, Martha, and River. John shook hands with the Doctor and grabbed Martha in a large hug as well.

"Well now what?" Amy vocalized what they were all thinking after they greeted one another. They all thought for several seconds until John spoke up.

"We go Christmas shopping." Martha, the Doctor, and Rose all looked over at him like he was insane.

"We do what?" The Doctor asked him. River took his hand and started to walk over to John's Tardis, "we go Christmas shopping."

Rose shrugged and walked into the Tardis followed by everyone except for Martha and the Doctor.

"This is weird right? I'm not the only one who thinks it's strange that we're shopping months away?" The Doctor asked turning to Martha.

"We've done stranger." She replied and then walked into the Tardis after them.

* * *

Mickey was at home working on some files that had to be processed after his last case. He wished that he could've gone with Martha, the Doctor, and Rose to find what ever they needed, but these were due tomorrow and he was almost done. He took a large sip of his coffee, trying to energize himself after a long night of paper work. He finished typing the last line of his report when he heard the unmistakable sound.

He clicked SEND on his last email and ran out into the back garden where the Tardis suddenly appeared. John walked out first which confused Mickey but he became more baffled when the Doctor walked out next to him. Mickey shook his head after realizing who John was.

"Um, John right?" He said sticking his hand out for John to shake.

"Mickey!" John shouted and then grabbed the man in a large embrace. "It's been a while. Listen we're all going Christmas shopping if you'd like to join us. And by us I mean Rose, River, Rory, Amy, Martha, Jack, him," he gestured towards the Doctor, "and me."

"Christmas shopping?" before he finished his question John was already on the Tardis so Mickey looked over at the Doctor.

"Don't look at me; I'm just as puzzled as you are." He walked onto the Tardis followed closely by Mickey.

They walked into the console room that was occupied by John, Rory, and Jack glancing around for the missing occupants. "Where's Martha?" Mickey asked first noticing the absence of his wife.

John shrugged, "She went somewhere with Amy."

"Who is Amy?" Mickey asked still the least informed of the group.

* * *

"So Martha I know this is going to sound strange but in the future you decorate one of your guest rooms for Rory and me for when we come to visit you in December." Amy said leading her down one of the hallways.

"I've heard stranger Amy, it is Amy isn't it?"

"Yeah it is, sorry I forgot that you haven't met me yet, I've already met you." She stopped outside of her room. "I'm Amy Williams, you've met my husband Rory, right?"

Martha nodded, "briefly."

"Well since we're going Christmas shopping now, I suppose that I should show you what you gave us for Christmas."

"I haven't given you anything." She said shaking her head, still confused, "no offense."

"Oh no, you're right you haven't but you will." She opened the door to her bedroom and ran over to her night stand grabbing her phone. "I took some pictures." She started to scroll through several pictures on her phone, "I thought they might be helpful."

* * *

Rose and River walked to the kitchen together after River had taken her offer for a cup of tea. "You're very beautiful. I can see why he loves you." River stated after several minutes of silence.

"I love John too. And thank you, you're very gorgeous yourself, River. I see the way he looks at you; the Doctor loves you so much." She handed a mug to River and then walked over to the table and sat down, one leg crossed underneath her.

"I wasn't talking about John." River declared sitting across from Rose. Surprised she stopped sipping her tea and looked up at the older woman.

"What do you mean?"

"The Doctor, I see why he loves you."

"That was a long time ago." She put her cup down on the table and shifted in her seat.

"He still loves you Rose you can't deny that." River picked up her mug and took a small sip from it.

"Not in the same why he loves you, once maybe, but not anymore. He loves me no more than he loves Martha or Amy."

"He loves you so much Rose, don't underestimate how much." They both looked up from their mugs as the Tardis landed.

"We have some shopping to do." Rose said standing up and walking out of the kitchen, mug still in her shaking hand.


	34. Chapter 34

The Doctor looked down at his watch and then back at the rag tag group in front of him. "We'll all meet back here in um, two hours?" Everyone nodded agreeing, except for Jack.

"What's wrong Jack are you not coming?" Martha said looking over at the captain.

"Nah," he pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to her, it was a list of all of his favorite movies and food. "Can you just buy these things before we come and see you? I already have my gun so there's no point in me going." He turned around and walked into the Tardis.

"Are you sure Jack?" John said walking in after him.

"Yeah, that way I can raid the fridge and baby sit the Tardis. Someone has to babysit her." He patted the console lovingly and retreated back into the hallway.

John left the Tardis and walked straight over to Rose. "We have a frame to buy and an umbrella." He took her hand and they left the group going to a promising shop named GEORGE'S FRAMES AND PHOTOS.

Mickey and Martha were next to leave, they didn't have anything they needed to buy other than Jacks long list of movies and foods so they went off looking for some lunch.

Amy and Rory left next, looking for items that she could give to Martha, so she could decorate their guest room.

They were left alone now and the Doctor turned to face his wife. "So what do we need to buy?" He asked her as they started to walk down the street.

"Don't get too excited about this, but we're on the lookout for a bowtie."

"Bowtie! Bowties are cool!" River laughed while shaking her head at him.

"So you've told me, let's just hope we don't run into any fezzes." His face lit up with an enormous smile.

* * *

"Where are we Doctor?" Rose asked turning to look at John.

"Oh I've missed that!"

"Missed what?" She asked her eye brows raised as they turned the corner onto another busy street.

"You calling me Doctor."

"Well then Doctor, I'll ask again where are we?"

"We're in London. I thought you would've known that." He flashed her a sly smile as he started to swing her hand, which he was holding, back and forth.

"Alright then when are we?"

"We are in London on July 26th 2058. Best place to find an umbrella."

"You're ridiculous." She said moving her hand from his and then grabbing him around the waist. He followed suit.

"I am?"

"Ya, one of the reasons I love you."

* * *

"So what are we looking for?" Rory asked his wife as they walked out of their sixth shop.

"Pillows Rory, we're looking for pillows." She took out her phone and showed him the picture of the bedroom, "see these pillows."

"Those exact pillows." He said looking past her.

"Yes those exact ones." She said not noticing where he was looking.

"No, Amy I mean those exact pillows." He took her by the shoulders and rotated her around to reveal a window display.

"Yes! They're perfect! Rory sometimes you're amazing!" She ran towards the shop dragging him by his hand.

"Sometimes?"

* * *

River almost immediately regretted taking him into the tie shop. She should have brought someone else with her to find the bowtie, like Amy or even Jack for that matter.

He was like a kid in a candy store, but a hundred times more excited. He walked up and down the displays pointing out almost every bow tie he saw, making her come over and look at the ones he liked the most.

River looked over his shoulder looking for the bowtie that she needed. "I don't see it." She said shrugging.

"If you don't see the bowtie here, we have hundreds more in the back we could show you." The store clerk offered.

The Doctors grin enlarged something River thought was impossible. "I guess we'll look at them." She sighed; it was going to take a while to find the tie.

The clerk nodded and walked into the back. Moments later he returned carrying multiple displays. He set them down on the counter and the Doctor almost started to drool.

She looked up and down the displays still not seeing the tie she needed. "I just don't see it."

"What does it look like; I'm sure I could help you locate it." The store clerk informed her.

"Its dark blue and the fabric has a faint pattern on it of triangles, it's hardly noticeable."

"River," the Doctor whispered looking up at her, "I have that bowtie back in my Tardis."

"You do?" He nodded. "I guess we don't need to buy one then." She said looking up at the clerk.

"Yes we do," the Doctor said pointing out various bowties he wished to purchase, "I need a replacement."

"You just pointed out at least five." River informed him.

"Reinforcements," he stated, his grin growing ear to ear.


	35. Chapter 35

They sat outside of a restaurant eating lunch. It was a small restaurant and the furnishing were meant to look "old fashioned" so it looked like something from 2002, with technology from 2058.

Mickey wolfed down half of his sandwich while Martha's soup grew cold. She stared out into the street watching all of the different people walk by, lost in her thoughts. He was about to bite into the other half of his sandwich when he noticed how distracted she was.

"Martha, what's wrong?" She looked up at him, clearly unaware that she had zoned out.

"Oh," she smiled at him, "nothing."

"You haven't touched your food yet, you've just been staring at nothing."

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Thenkin? Abot wha?" He asked already eating the rest of his sandwich.

"What everything is going to be like when all of these loose strings are tied. I mean sure we still have to find the Doctor's Tardis and most of them are going to come and visit us on Christmas, but what's going to happen to them."

"Happen to who?"

"I don't know all of them I guess. Like Rose and John, are they going to settle down or are they going to travel the world? And Amy and Rory, are they supposed to just pick up their lives like nothing ever happened?"

"I don't know," he replied and then noticed that she stilled looked distressed, "but that's not all that you're thinking."

"Yeah," she said picking up her spoon and stirring it through her almost cold soup, "he never came to see us. There wasn't a parallel world stopping him or anything like that. He knew where we were, but he hasn't visited us, until now when he had to."

"He's been busy I guess." She nodded and took a sip of her water, still not hungry.

"I just don't want to say goodbye to him again and never see him. I just don't want this to end, because what if that's it?"

"I'm sure he'll come again."

"He was my best friend you know?" Mickey nodded and took her hand from across the table.

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

"How much time do we have?" He asked turning to look at Rose.

"Um," she lifted up her arm to look. He didn't let go of her hand so she ended up taking his hand along with her own to look at the time, "thirty minutes." She carried the bag with the frame in it while he swung the umbrella around with his free hand as they slowly walked back to the Tardis.

"Thirty minutes, what do you want to do for thirty minutes?"

"Well what is there to do?" She asked glancing around the street.

"Oh I know!" He started to run dragging her with him.

"Where are we going? She yelled while jumping over the curb onto the road.

"It's a surprise."

* * *

"Do you think we got everything?" Amy said walking in front of him. She was quickly walking from store to store while he waddled behind her, arms too full with bags to walk at a normal pace.

"I hope so, Amy…could you?" He said lifting one of the large bags so she could help him.

"Could I what?"

"Could you take one of the ten bags?"

"You've got it." She said smiling at him, trying to suppress her laughter.

"Amy," he sighed.

"Oh alright," she ran over and took a few of the bags. "Should we go back now?"

"How much time do we have?"

"About half an hour."

"Might as well, it'll take us half of that time to get all of this there."

* * *

"Right so what is this?" She said as they walked up to what was obviously a food truck.

"It's a food truck." He smiled down at her.

"Is it? Thanks for clearing that up for me." John laughed and then patted the truck.

"Rose this isn't any food truck though."

"Oh?"

"It's a fish and chips food truck." He dragged her to the front of the truck and ordered them both a serving.

"Were a little less than fifty years in the future and you take me to get fish and chips?"

"Nothing but the best for Mrs. Smith." He said squirting ketchup from the bottle onto both of their plates.

"Oh Mr. Tyler how thoughtful."

"Anytime." He grinned at her.

* * *

"Did you buy enough?" She said as they walked out of the tie shop. He smiled over at her.

"Yes, although I really wish they would've had fezzes." He gestured up to his bare head.

"I know, Doctor," she looked up at him and smiled as they walked down the street back to the Tardis, "what do we do know? What's next?"

"We go and find my Tardis I suppose, since we need that bowtie for Martha to give to you."

"Cant we just give her this one?" She said pulling out the bowtie she had received earlier.

"You know that it'll most likely cause a paradox right? No it's better just to nab and grab the original." River nodded and then shoving the tie into her pocket.

"Is that yours now?" The Doctor said looking over at her referring to the tie.

"Yes sweetie, you gave it to me. No take backs."


	36. Chapter 36

Jack sat in the control room, feet resting on the console. On one of the monitors he had one of his favorite movies running. He reached into the bag of popcorn he was holding and grabbed the last large handful, shoving it all into his mouth as the end credits started to roll.

The Tardis was quiet for the first time since he had set foot in it. He glanced down at his watch. He still had forty minutes until everyone else showed back up. Forty minutes to explore.

He stood up and crunched the empty paper bag into a ball. First stop would be the kitchen to get another soda. He walked down the hallway towards where he knew it was.

He reached the room in seconds tossing the squished popcorn bag into the trash and grabbing one of Rose's sacred cokes from the fridge, ignoring the TOUCH AND YOU DIE sign she had scribbled on top of the box with a purple metallic marker.

He took the soda and walked back into the hallway, turning left instead of right. He poked his head into every door he came to. Most were empty rooms; the first room he found that wasn't empty was Rivers.

No, he wouldn't look in her room; he wasn't that bored, or intrusive. He continued to walk down the same hallway, finding Amy and Rory's room and then Rose and John's. He looked at each room briefly and then kept on walking down the hallway.

He found the library next. It was impressive, but he had seen larger. Instead of walking back into the hallway he walked through the room over to a door on the opposite side room.

He pushed it open to reveal something that looked like John's private collection of trainers. He had to have at least a hundred pairs in here. He left the large closet and walked back into the library.

He walked over to the shelves running his fingers over the spines of the books as he walked back to the main doors.

He was about to leave when he noticed a book left out on a table in the center of the room. He walked over to it realizing that it was a photo album.

He smiled as he looked at the pictures of their wedding. Rose and John were happy, no doubt about it. He flipped through it, his smile fading as he found pictures of Rose with her family.

He was going to miss Jackie Tyler and he knew that Rose was going to miss Pete and Tony as well. He closed the book and walked out of the library.

He started to walk back to main room, exploring the pool and wardrobe on his way there. He glanced down at his watch when he found the console room again. He still had twenty minutes to kill. He wondered if he and John were the same shoe size as he turned back towards the library.

* * *

Amy and Rory were the first back. They walked into the Tardis and straight to their rooms so they could put down the bags they were carrying.

As soon as he dropped his bags Rory fell onto the bed, face first. Amy collapsed next to him, her head resting on his back as her feet hung off the edge.

"I will never shop again in my life." Rory mumbled into the pillow as he moved his face to the side so he could breathe.

"My feet hurt so badly. I don't ever want to see another shop in my life." Amy said sitting up and untying her boots and throwing them across the room.

"Liar," Rory rolled over and looked over to his wife. "Tomorrow you'll regain your passion for spending several hours looking at things you'll most likely never buy."

"Okay, you may be right, but I don't want to look at another shop for the rest of the day."

"Deal," she laid down back on the bed her feet happy to not be wedged into her shoes. Rory looked at his watch, "we have ten minutes until everyone gets back."

"Oh do you know what we could do?" She asked rolling over.

"What?"

"We could take a nap!"

"I couldn't agree with you more Amy," they both fell asleep immediately, Rory still wearing his shoes and Amy's purse still strapped across her.

* * *

"So when we get home can we repaint the kitchen?" Martha asked as they walked into the Tardis.

"Repaint it? We just repainted it; you want to do it again?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking about how much I really like the color of the Tardis."

"You want our kitchen to be dark blue? That's the color you painted the front door." They walked straight to the kitchen. Martha started to make a cup of tea as Mickey started to go through the fridge.

"Well maybe not the whole kitchen, maybe just one wall and the other three a lighter blue. What do you think?"

"I like the yellow." He said grabbing one of Roses cokes, barely glancing at her threatening note.

"No, you don't you complained about it the entire time you were painting the kitchen."

"That's because the kitchen color was fine before."

"It'll only take you one Saturday."

"You said that the last two times you decided to have me repaint the kitchen, that's two wasted Saturday's I'll never get back."

"Good, then I was right, only one Saturday to paint it."


	37. Chapter 37

"How much time?" She asked at the precise moment that John shoved some fish into his mouth. They were still walking slowly to the Tardis, which was slowly coming into view.

"Erm weh haf tem minnnuts." He looked down at his watch and then back at his wife. He had almost finished his food while she was barely halfway done. He took a large swallow, "are you okay?"

She looked up from where she had been staring at her food and smiled, "Yeah why wouldn't I be? I found you again; I've got the Doctor, Mickey, Jack, Martha, and some new friends. I'm great." She smiled trying to convince him that she was okay.

He didn't believe her for a second. He threw his garbage into a nearby trash can after finishing his food and wrapped his arms around her while they approached the Tardis. She rested her head against his arms.

"It'll all be fine after this is all over, we can settle down and check all of the things off of our bucket list."

"Like what go parachuting, bungee jumping?" She grabbed the door with her free hand; he walked immediately behind her his arms still tightly clutching her around the shoulders.

"Nah, like have a family, grow old together. Stuff like that." She pulled the door open and they stepped inside.

"Good, I'd rather do that then go parachuting." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Mmmm me too," he let go of her and walked over to the console flipping some switches. He walked back to her and grabbed her last chips, leaving only the fish behind.

"Doctor!" She gasped at him, trying to act shocked, but she couldn't help but smile, "I was going to eat those!"

"You were? Then it's too bad someone stole them."

"Yeah too bad," she said rolling her eyes at him, "I am thirsty though. Want to accompany me to the kitchen." She put her hand out for him to take.

"Oh, Mrs. Smith I would love to." He took her hand and they walked into the hallway.

* * *

"You know even though it isn't my Tardis, it is still a beauty. Don't you think so River?" The Doctor said looking over at his wife as they stepped through the front door.

"This one smells better than yours that's for sure."

"Hey! My Tardis smells perfectly fine, thank you very much." He walked over to the console chair and plopped down looking at River.

"Um yes, if you say so, but this Tardis, it smells like cookies, cookies and flowers."

"What kind of flowers?" He asked his grin growing and she waited for him to make the cheesy joke she knew was coming, "Roses?"

She forced a small laugh, "funny Doctor, funny and clever." He nodded in agreement.

"It was wasn't it?"

"Where do you think everyone else is? Do you think they're here yet?" She said glancing around the empty console room.

"I suppose some of them must be back by now, we are a few minutes late. We could go and check in the kitchen." River nodded and he stood up and looped his arm through hers.

They walked into the hallway and heard yelling halfway to the kitchen. Worried about what could be happening they ran the rest of the way.

When they reached the room they saw a furious Rose pointing at Mickey's soda accusingly.

"How do you know I didn't buy this when we went shopping?" Mickey asked her, Rose's face becoming red.

"Because not only are there three cans missing, but these cokes are from the alternate world." She grabbed his now empty can and turned it so the logo could be seen. "You didn't notice that it said Coca-cola with a K?"

Knowing that he was caught he hung his head down in shame. "Sorry Rose, I'll buy you some more okay?"

"You better, and you still owe me because for some reason coke in the other world tastes better than it does in this universe." River and the Doctor watched in shock at the fight between Rose and Mickey. Martha laughed as she watched her husband cower in front of the tiny blonde. John looked entertained by it, fueling Rose from time to time with extra reasons for her to tear him up about it.

"It's probably the sugar, they use more sugar in the other universe than they do here," John added.

"Alright," he said putting his hands in the air, "I owe you."

"You," she said walking up to him stabbing her finger into his chest, "owe me a new package of soda and one favor. Any favor of my choosing."

"Okay, okay Rose I'm sorry that I ignored your warning."

"Good, I can't believe you drank three cans of it, though"

"I didn't. I only drank one can." At that moment, probably one of the worst moments that he could have chosen, Jack stuck his head into the kitchen.

"Hey what's up?" He asked crunching his empty soda can against the wall and throwing it into the trash. The Doctor grinned, now over his shock, fully enjoying watching Rose destroy full grown men.

"Ooooh you're in trouble." The Doctor said, sounding like someone's younger brother when the older sibling was about to get a talking to by their mum.


	38. Chapter 38

The Tardis was quiet. She sat in her bed, not able to sleep. She should've been able to sleep, everything was okay now. But her mind had other ideas. She looked over at John.

He was fast asleep, lightly snoring. He was asleep on his stomach, one arm tucked underneath the pillow the other hanging off of the bed. One of his legs was pressed against hers. Not wanting to lose physical contact with her, even though he was sleeping deeply and at this point almost nothing would wake him up.

She slid out of bed, slowly standing up. Reaching under the bed she grabbed her lady bug slippers and slid them on. She walked over to the closet next and grabbed John's green robe; just in case she did run into someone, she didn't want them seeing her in her nighty.

She glanced back at him. He was still sound asleep as she slowly turned the door knob and walked into the hallway.

It was cooler in the hallway then it was in their bedroom. She tightened the large robe around her as she walked towards the kitchen.

She walked silently past all of the filled bedrooms, something she never thought she would actually see. They never really had visitors before, this that is other than her family.

She walked into the kitchen and flipped on the light. She sighed when she saw what a mess it was. Dishes were piled high in the sink and garbage littered almost every surface.

She walked over to the fridge, hoping that they still had some milk left. Noticing that there was still some left she took the carton out. She opened up the cupboard and grabbed the last clean mug.

She poured the last of the milk into her mug and placed it in the microwave. She looked around the room anxiously waiting for her milk to heat up. She would have to clean it tomorrow, which wasn't something she really wanted to do. Maybe she would cash in the favor Mickey owed her.

She turned back around to the microwave opening it seconds before the timer went off, trying to remain as silent as possible.

She took the mug out and turned around to find a spot on the table. Finding none she decided to take her warm milk somewhere else.

Her feet dragged across the floor as she made her way to the library. She opened the door with one hand trying not to spill her milk. She walked in, surprised to find out that she wasn't alone.

* * *

"Aren't you going to sleep?" River asked him as he paced back and forth in front of where she was sitting on the bed.

"I slept two days ago." He replied.

"So you're not going to sleep? Everyone else has been asleep for hours by now."

"No, I don't think I could, even if I tried."

"Well I'm going to, so you can either try to sleep or let me sleep." He looked up at her.

"You're right, I'm sorry River. I didn't even think that you'd want to sleep. I'll go to the pool or the kitchen or somewhere so I don't keep you up." He walked over to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips and then turned out the light next to her.

He walked out of the room and started to walk aimlessly around. He thought about going to the pool, but he didn't have a swimming suit. He could go to the kitchen, but he wasn't hungry.

He walked around for several minutes until he found the library. He walked inside and started to look at the books, trying to find one that would keep him entertained.

That's when he saw Rose's photo album. He grabbed it and walked over to a nearby sofa. He placed the album next to him and untied his boots, talking them off. Next he loosened his bowtie and then removed it setting it on the coffee table in front of him, unbuttoning the top button on his collar.

He pulled his feet up underneath him and pulled out his glasses. He took the album and opened it up to the first page. It was picture of Rose with her family, it was an early picture. He could tell because it was one that was taken while Mickey was still in the alternate world and John wasn't.

He flipped the pages, looking at several different pictures. He reached the photos where John replaced Mickey when the library door opened.

Surprised he glanced up to see an evenly shocked Rose. "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was awake." She started to leave when he stopped her.

"When's this?" He asked holding up the album showing a picture to her.

She walked into the room timidly, holding onto her mug firmly. She walked over to him and set the mug down on the table next to his tie. She picked up the album and studied the picture.

"That's John's third birthday." She answered handing the book back to the Doctor.

"And when's this?" he asked pointing to a picture Jackie had taken of them earlier in the day, after they had had a food fight while making a cake.

"Same day," she said slowly sitting next to him. He looked so vulnerable now, now that he was alone and hadn't expected anyone to find him.

His eyes brightened up as he realized that this was the same day Rose had been talking about on the plane. She took a small sip of her milk which she almost choked on when the Doctor asked his next question. "Oh, is this when John got egg in your bra?"

"How do you know that?" She asked in between coughs.

"You talked in your sleep when we were on the plane."

"I do not talk in my sleep." She insisted looking shocked at the Doctor.

"Yes you do, rarely but you do. When we used to travel together I would have entire conversations with you while when you fell asleep while reading a book or watching a movie."

"Oh, I'm going to kill John. I can't believe he didn't tell me about this."

"Why spoil the fun?" He asked her and then turned back to look at the album. "What's this from?" He asked pointing to another picture.


	39. Chapter 39

He rolled over in his sleep. The arm that had been hanging off of the bed came down over where he thought her body would be. Instead it hit the empty sheets, jolting him awake.

His eyes flashed open and he looked over at the vacant space where she had been when he had gone to bed. He stood up grabbing his tan slippers from under the bed, giving up the thought of sleeping knowing that Rose wasn't next to him.

He walked over to the closet reaching for his robe. It was gone and the only robe he did fine was Rose's. It was purple with pink flamingos scattered across it. He shrugged and put the robe on, hoping that only Rose would see him in it.

He grabbed his glasses from the night stand and put them on. He stepped into the hallway walking past all of the rooms. He checked the kitchen first and then the console room where he stumbled upon an Amy Pond.

She sat on the seat, knees tucked up to her chest she stared at the console. "Amelia?"

She glanced up at him; she looked exhausted, "Oh hello John, nice robe." She gave him a small smile but then looked back at where she was staring.

"What are you doing here?" He walked over and sat down next to her on the seat.

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought that if I got up and walked around some I could go back and fall asleep."

"Why couldn't you sleep?" She leaned her head against his arm and looked over to the hallway she had come from, where everyone else presumably was.

"I keep on thinking, thinking about the Doctor. What if, what if he leaves us, and moves on? He did it to Rose and to Martha."

John took in a large breath and looked at the Doctor's newest companion, "he didn't leave them, Martha left and Rose was stuck in an alternate world. He won't leave you Amy."

"You sure?" She asked looking up at him.

"Yeah." They sat in silence as Amy stared back at the console. After a long silence he glanced back over to the red headed girl. She was asleep against him, her hair falling gently in front of her face.

He stood up, scooping her up in his arms. He carried her into the hallway and back to her bedroom, knocking softly on the door.

A groggy Rory answered it, surprised to see John carrying his wife. "I thought that I should return this to you." He said walking into their room and laying Amy down on the bed.

"Thanks, nice uh flamingos," Rory answered running his hands through his hair, still half asleep, before climbing back into his bed. John knew that he probably wouldn't even remember this in the morning.

"Anytime," before he closed the door Rory was already asleep again, one arm draped across Amy. That reminded him that he had a Rose to find.

* * *

She let out a small yawn as the Doctor closed the photo album. "I'm going to head to bed now," she stated picking her mug up, "guess the warm milk helped." She stood up, stretching her arms while she did so, mug still in hand.

"Goodnight Rose," the Doctor replied standing up too. He walked over to one of the book shelves and started to read the spines of books, looking for one to read. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the other side of the library to where there was a small reading nook with a giant oversized arm chair.

"This is John's favorite place in the library; he keeps all of his favorite books here. You'd probably like them."

"Probably," he answered flashing her a smile. "Goodnight Rose."

"Goodnight Doctor." She left him as he picked up a book and slumped down in the chair. She walked out of the library and closed the door softly behind her.

She was tired now and was trying to decide on if she should return the mug to the kitchen or head straight to bed. Knowing that she would have to do it eventually she headed to the kitchen.

She walked into the empty room and set the mug down in the sink. She turned back around and walked into the hallway, turning the light off.

"Rose." Someone whispered. She turned around and saw John quietly running up to her.

"Oh, hello, you're supposed to be asleep." She said as he caught up to her and wrapped his arm around. They started back to their room together.

"You weren't in bed so I went to look for you."

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep." She replied letting out another yawn; she was barely staying awake enough to walk back to the room. He reached down and picked her up, knowing how worn out she was. "Thanks, I like your robe by the way." She said pointing to one of the flamingos, "suits you."

He smiled down at her as he walked through their bedroom door. "Well, someone took my robe." He placed her down on the bed taking her slippers off for her. "Goodnight Rose."

"Goodnight, love you." She mumbled rolling over in the bed while John pulled the covers over her, falling asleep instantly.

"Love you too." He replied, knowing that she was already fast asleep and couldn't hear him. He took of his own slippers and Rose's robe and climbed into bed next to her. He flipped over onto his stomach and wrapped his arm over Rose, not wanting to have her disappear again.


	40. Chapter 40

He ran around the console, pulling levers and pushing buttons. She sat in the chair next to him, mug of tea in her hands. She was still tired because they had woken up early to clean the kitchen after John had volunteered to do so.

She had sat in one of the kitchen table chairs as he loaded the dishes into their dishwasher, pressing the CLEAN button, and then he started to unload it, dishes instantly spotless.

She then decided to help him and started to sweep the floors. They had finished faster than they thought they would, surprised that everyone else was still asleep.

John decided to go ahead and land the Tardis in New Central Park while they slept so that as soon as everyone woke up they could go and find the Doctor's police box.

The console room shook as they landed. John ran out to the front door to ensure that they had landed in the correct place. He burst into laughter as soon as he opened the doors and looked outside.

"What?" Rose asked standing up walking towards her husband.

"It figures."

"What figures?" she asked walking around the console and over to John who was still laughing. She looked out the door and then looked at him, "I don't see anything."

"Look what's parked next to this Tardis, immediately next to." She looked out and turned her head to see another blue police box sitting directly to the left of theirs.

"Of course we find it now." She said giggling at their luck.

"What's so funny?" The Doctor asked walking out of the hallway. He was tying his bow tie as he walked over towards them.

"Look what we found." Rose said pointing out the door to his Tardis. He looked over to where Rose was pointing and an enormous grin found its way onto his face.

"So that's where I left her! Should I wake up the others?" He asked turning around to look at John and Rose.

"No, need I'll do it." Rose replied walking over to the hallway. "EVERYONE OUT HERE NOW!" She shouted, surprising both John and the Doctor, who had both expected her to go and knock on everyone's door.

River walked out of her room, fully dressed with a hairbrush in her hand. Rory and Amy filled in next, both still in their pajamas. They were followed next by Martha and Mickey, both in a similar state to the Ponds. "Should we wake up Jack?" Rose asked looking back at the two men, knowing well that waking up Jack took more than yelling down the hallway.

"Nah, he can stay here." John replied and then turned to the rest of the group. "We found the Doctor's Tardis, so Ponds, River you go with the Doctor. Martha, Mickey you stay here with us and apparently Jack. We'll all meet back at Martha's house, let's say two days after we left, exactly" he said looking over at Rose who smiled brightly at him, "and then we'll finish this all up."

Mickey and Martha nodded and headed back to their room. River turned around and walked back towards her room to get her things.

"So what does that mean?" Amy asked, her question aimed towards the Doctor.

"It means…" he said slowly, an enormous smile plastered on his face, "come along Ponds!" Amy squealed happily running over and hugging the Doctor. Without another word she ran back to Rory, grabbed his hand and dragged them to their room so they could pack and change.

"I'm going to check on her." The Doctor said referring to his ship as he walked out of one Tardis to go to another.

"Doctor," Rose warned seriously, "watch out for angels." He nodded and looked around the area.

"We're clear," and with that he disappeared into the other time machine.

"Are we going to be alone again?" Rose said sadly as she noticed how quiet things suddenly were.

"What do you mean?" He asked walking over to her and placing his hands on her hips.

"It felt like a small family in a way, you know? It felt good, kinda helped to fill the hole a little."

"Oh, Rose it's not like we won't see them again. We still have to go back to Martha's, to set everything up for our future selves."

"I know I just don't want to lose them."

"I know Rose," he leaned down and kissed her on the head, "I don't want to lose them either.

* * *

River, Rory, and Amy walked into the newly changed Tardis. The Doctor smiled at them as they walked around it, taking all of the changes in, "so what do you think?" He asked a large smile on his face.

"Well," Rory said speaking first, "It defiantly more metallic."

"I remember this desktop." River said walking directly to the hallway to find her room, not fazed at all by the change.

"Well…what do you think Pond?" He said walking up to Amy who was still speechless.

"I liked the old one better, but it'll do I suppose." He nodded glad that Amy took the change as well as she did.

"Great, now that that's all settled I have to go and find a bow tie for River."


	41. Chapter 41

He knocked on the door, swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet. He glanced back behind him at the Ponds and his wife and then looked back at the blue door.

The door swung open to reveal Martha, "Come in, took you long enough." She answered as the group of four filed into the already occupied living room. "I made dinner," Martha informed them as she led them to the table.

They all sat down with Jack, Mickey, and Martha. "You coming? Rose, John?" Amy asked as Rose stood up from the couch but John grabbed her wrist.

"What?" She asked turning around to look at him.

"This was the picture! Mickey quickly, do you have a camera?" The man nodded and walked into the hallway disappearing for a minute and then reappearing with a camera.

He handed the camera to John and then went back and sat down at the table behind where they were sitting. John turned the camera around, "smile Rose," he said as he pressed the button. She didn't smile but kissed him on the cheek, something he knew was going to happen but it made his smile even more. "Thank you," he said squeezing her hand as the stood up and walked over to the table.

"Alright let's get this started." Martha said reaching for the roast and placing a piece on her plate. Everyone else followed suit, digging into the meal Martha and Mickey had put hours into making.

She sat and watched everyone eat, putting food on her own plate. It reminded her of the dinner they had at their wedding reception, of the family that had surrounded her then, compared to the one surrounding her now.

_"Alright, alright, I suppose it's time for the father of the bride to give a toast."_ Pete said standing up looking out at the guests and then down at Rose. _"I've known many people in my life. Some of them incredible, but none of them compare really, to this girl sitting next to me, wearing white." _

He looked down at Rose who was smiling brightly at him. _"She's the most amazing person that I've ever met, well maybe after her mum." _He looked down at Jackie and then back at the crowd. _"I used to think that she was too good for anyone. That is until I met John. You see John is the best man I've ever known. Better than me. So if I had to have anyone marry my daughter, I'm glad it's him. They deserve each other, and they've earned this happiness, and I wish them the best of luck. Cheers!" _

He sat back down and looked over at Rose who was still smiling brightly. She mouthed a thank you at him before Jackie stood up.

_"Hello," _She said looking out at the large group, _"You know these two kids here, I love them so much. I love my daughter more than anything. She's shown me so much and she's taught me more than anyone else."_

She leaned down and kissed Rose on the head and then stood back up. _"And this man, I remember the first time I met him, he was different back then and I'm not sure that I ever thought that we'd all end up here. I'm glad we did though._

_ "He's a fantastic man, someone that is good enough for my daughter. He's my son now, but I've loved him like one for so much longer." _She lifted up her glass, _"To the brilliant couple." _

"Rose, aren't you going to eat?" John asked shaking her from her day dream.

"Uh, yeah sorry," she took a small spoonful of potatoes and placed it in her mouth. She looked down the table, at all of the faces around her.

They were her family now and hopefully they would stick around for her, because she needed them, even if they didn't need her.

She looked around the table studying everyone as she slowly ate her meal. Martha and Mickey sat opposite each other as heads of the table. Martha was talking to Amy about a recipe for custard while Mickey laughed at one of Jacks many jokes. River sat next to the Doctor, who was talking to her about how he really needed to buy some more ties, because fifty didn't feel like enough.

It was strange; everything they were talking about was so normal, and so human. If anyone walked in the door right now and listened to what they were saying they wouldn't think that they were a group of impossible time travelers.

Rose looked over at John, who was still watching her cautiously, making sure that she was okay. She smiled at him and he smiled back. That was something she loved about John, he always made sure that she was alright, that she was okay.

She would miss this, the feeling of family that had been lacking from her life. She felt like she belonged and that the people around her truly cared about her well being.

"Rose will you hand me the bread?" The Doctor, who was sitting next to her, asked.

"Yeah," she handed him the rolls and wondered if this was the last time she would see him, if he would ever come back to see her, if she was worth it to him.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."


	42. Chapter 42

_"Can I dance with the bride?" _Pete asked putting his hand out for Rose to take. She stood up from where she was sitting next to John squeezing his hand before she took Pete's. They walked to the dance floor slowly her dress flowing behind her. The floor cleared as a song started to play for them to dance.

He glanced up from his conversation with Jackie to see his wife, yes his wife. He almost couldn't believe everything that had happened to him in the past years. He had woken up one day naked in a dying police box with Donna standing over him to somehow incredibly at his wedding with Rose. He wouldn't trade it for anything. He was lucky and happy.

He watched her dance around in circles laughing at Pete's jokes. Her hair swayed back and forth, the blond curls bouncing up and down. He loved her more than she could ever know, because he just couldn't put it in words.

_"So how's the wedding I paid for you?" _Pete asked as he twirled her around.

_"It's lovely, thank you. I don't think it could be any better."_ She was so happy, it was one of the best days of her life and it would only get better.

They finished dancing the song together and he took a step back and looked at his daughter. He was lucky to have had her in his life. Another song came up and she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned around to see John beaming at her. _"Can I have another dance?"_ He put his hand out for her to take, she gladly accepted.

Holding one of her hands with his and placing the other against the small of her back he started to twirl her around the floor. She leaned her head against his shoulder as they stopped dancing elegantly and started to spin around in circles, so they could talk as husband and wife.

_"I wasn't sure if I was going to come to this wedding, you know? Didn't know the groom that well." _He dipped her below him.

When she came back up and she was smiling brightly her tongue sticking out from in between her teeth.

_"Well, I'm glad that you did come even though you thought the groom's a bore. What do you think about the bride?"_

_ "Oh well she's gorgeous, don't tell the groom but,"_ He put his finger up to her lips as her smile grew. He leaned in closer to her so that he could whisper into her ear, "_I think I'm in love with her."_

* * *

She looked over at her husband, so glad she had him. He was all that she had left and he looked like he was going to explode.

"You alright?" She asked turning to look at him as he moved back and forth in his seat.

"Yeah, great, I just uh have to, no I'm good." He glanced anxiously to the hallway squeezing her hand harder.

"Go to the bathroom Doctor, for goodness sake." She said pushing him off of the couch.

"You sure you could come with me?" He asked her. He knew that the note that she wrote to him said that he did this, but he did feel quite ridiculous. He was still holding onto her hand swinging it back and forth gently. She laughed and pointed to the direction that he needed to go.

"Go on, you're a big boy. I don't think you need my help."

"Well…" he started eyebrows raise.

"Go!" She said laughing. He disappeared into the hallway and Rose noticed that she was alone for the first time since she had found John again.

She looked around the room and found a pad of paper and pen on the coffee table in front of her. She started to write quickly, so that she would finish before John came back, although he already knew everything that she was going to write.

_Doctor, _

_ Hello! It's been a while (for you at least). For me I just saw you a few seconds ago before you left to go to the bathroom. It's the first time you've let me out of your sight in hours. You even tried to convince me to come with you! I better stop telling you what's happening though, don't want you to know everything that's happening today. I'm so unbelievable happy that I found you again, and I'm never leaving you again. Angel or no angel._

_ I just wanted to let you know that you find us. The Doctor and I. Martha will let you know where to look and let's just say I'm so glad to have you back. I can't wait until you can see me again. I love you more than anything, and I would never forget that. _

_Love, _

_Rose Smith_

She folded it up as she heard the sink running. She glanced around looking for an envelope. She ran over to the desk in the corner of the room and started to rummage through drawers. She found everything but what she needed, including four staplers and what looked like a mixture between a sonic screwdriver and a telescope.

"Looking for something?" John asked from behind her, holding an envelope in front of her face. She turned around to see him smiling at her. She snatched the envelope from him.

"It's just what I needed. How'd you know?" She asked poking him in the chest.

"Would you call it a hunch?"

"Now, don't make me use this thingy on you." She said pointing the strange telescope at him. He threw his arms into the air.

"I surrender; just let me have one last wish," he said inching towards her.

"What?"

"This," and he kissed her, one hand on her hip the other slowly putting the atom disperser back onto the desk. Who knows why Martha and Mickey kept that in their home.


	43. Chapter 43

"Well, I guess this is goodbye John." Rory said as they said their final farewells. Rory put his hand out for John to shake but John grabbed him in a bear hug instead. The two men had only known each other briefly but they both had gained a friend in the short amount of time.

"You've been brilliant simply brilliant," John said as Rory nodded in agreement, "and one more thing Rory; keep an eye on Amelia for me will you? She's one in a trillion trillion trillion." Rory nodded again as John patted him on the back, the two separating as he turned around to say goodbye to the other two remaining Ponds.

He glanced around the busy room filled with people saying farewell. Everyone's emotions were on high, they had all been through a lot in the past few days and that was all coming to an end now.

He looked around trying to find the curly light brown hair of River or the bright red hair of Amy. Surprisingly he found River first; she was saying goodbye to Martha and Mickey. She finished her conversation as soon as John walked up behind her. "River, it's been great," he stated as she turned around to see him.

"Thank you John. Will I see you again?" She had grown to really like John and would be disappointed if this was their last encounter. John winced knowing that she would see him again, but his time lord self. He didn't understand how the Doctor could look at her and pretend like nothing was wrong. He would hopefully see her again though before she went to library, before she saw him one last time.

"Hopefully yes, Rose and I aren't going to be going anywhere too far away so hopefully we will see you again."

"You're doing it again John." She accused looking at the tall man in front of her.

"Doing what?"

"Looking at me like I'm a ghost."

"No, no I'm not River, because you know what you are very much alive. Oh look there's Amelia!" He hugged her quickly leaving her as swiftly as he could, as Amy came up for her goodbye.

"I can't decide for the life of me if I want to call you ruffly doctor or the Doctor with the trainers." She stated eyebrows arched as she tried to think it through.

"Ruffly?" John asked as Amy nodded and ruffled her fingers through his hair. He smiled down at her, "I'll see you soon Amelia Pond."

She nodded and then grabbed him tightly in a hug as he hugged her back. "You better Doctor."

"Doctor?" He questioned looking down at her. It was strange to hear that. No one, unless they had confused him with the time lord Doctor, had called him that intentionally other than Rose for such a long time. It had been since they had last seen Rose's family, the last time they had said goodbye to them.

"You're the Doctor to her," Amy said gesturing to Rose who was saying her goodbyes to Rory. "And if I know that girl just a fraction as much as I think I do, that's good enough for me."

* * *

"Goodbye River," she said to the only person in the room who still put her on edge. She had said her goodbyes to Rory already and was still glancing around the room for Amy.

"Goodbye Rose, I'm glad that I had the privilege of knowing you. In a way it helped me to know him a little better too." River hugged Rose loosely around the shoulders.

"Thanks, I suppose. I'm glad that he's happy River, that you make him happy." She nodded and Rose turned away walking over to say goodbye to Amy.

"Rose!" Amy said a smile grew across her face as she beckoned the blond woman across the room.

"Amy, I guess this is goodbye," Rose said hugging her.

"Nah, not goodbye," She said shaking her head, "but I do want to tell you thank you Rose."

"Thank you? For what?" She looked up at the girl in front of her, the Doctor's newest companion.

"Thank you for everything, for taking us with you in your Tardis, for being a great friend not only to me but to him, and for making the Doctor who he is. Thank you." Rose nodded, holding back tears.

"I'll see you soon then?"

"Yes, see you soon." Amy agreed before walking away to say goodbye to Jack.

Rose looked out the back window where she could see him leaning against the Tardis. She had one more goodbye and she wasn't sure that she could make it through this one.

* * *

They stood steps apart. She stood in the grass while he stood inside of the blue door way. She knew she was going to cry, she could feel it.

He stretched out his hand cupping her cheek smiling down at her. "It's not like I'm never going to see you again."

Tears started to stream down her face. "But I don't know that." He let go of her face and gathered her up in his arms, stepping down onto the grass. Her ear pressed up against his chest, listening to his beating hearts.

"Rose Tyler, Dame Rose of the Powell estate, bad wolf. I'll never stop coming to see you as long as I live. I will never make that mistake again."

"You did with them. Why won't you do it with us?" She said glancing back at Mickey and Martha who could be seen through the kitchen window.

"Martha left me, free will. You, you would have stayed with me forever if I would of let you." She nodded, head still pressed against his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. "This isn't good bye Rose, I promise."


	44. Chapter 44

The blue box disappeared in front of her. She tried to breathe as she watched it leave, tears running down her face. Her arms wrapped around her tightly, trying, although it seemed impossible, to keep herself from falling apart.

She had been here before, years ago. She hadn't been in a garden though, she had been on a beach. She wanted him to come back, come back and stay with them forever. She knew he wouldn't, he had moved on even if she hadn't.

It was completely gone now. There was a spot where all of the grass was pressed down from the police box. That was the only evidence that he had even been there, the only evidence that he was still real.

She took another forced breath as she felt his arms around her. He didn't say anything. He didn't try to stop her.

He stood behind her as she wept, just holding her. He knew there was a chance they would never see the Doctor again. It was a good chance and she knew that too, it was why she was crying.

She let go of herself knowing that he was holding her now. She took her trembling hands and started to wipe the tears away. She turned around wrapping her arms around his back pressing her ear to his chest, listening to his single heart, the heart that would never cause her heartbreak.

"Rose, it's raining," he whispered to her as they both started to get wet. She looked up at him and then around them. How long had it been raining? Why hadn't she noticed?

She only pressed her head against his chest harder, trying to hide from her pain.

He looked up to where Martha and Mickey were looking out the kitchen window, concerned that the couple was still outside in the down pour. He mouthed the words "umbrella" and Martha nodded disappearing into the house. She reappeared seconds later walking outside putting the umbrella up and gently handing it to John.

He held the umbrella above them with one hand the other still tightly holding onto her. She was broken, she had lost so much but she was still moving forward. That's what made her so strong.

For someone who barley cried, she had done her fair share of it lately. He knew that she needed time, time to accept what had just happened. After this she would pretend that she was fine, even though it would still be eating her up inside.

* * *

"So, now where? An unknown planet? Abandoned spaceship? Alien infested asteroid?" Amy said after they had dropped River back off at the jail. It was just the three of them now, back like it had been before they had been stuck in the 1940's. She was walking up to the console and flipping switches right behind him, just like she had done hundreds of times before.

"Um, no," he said his voice quiet and emotionless. He looked up at her, his eyes always told her how he really felt. They were pools of sorrow. She knew it was eating him up that he had leave Rose again, that he had to leave her to live her life.

He looked down at the console again, fixing the levers that Amy had touched. He felt like his hearts had fallen down into the pit of his stomach. He knew that Rose wouldn't live the life she had to if he was always there.

He had been with her through three of his lives. She only had one and the odds that it would be her turn to lose a life were just too high, it was a risk he couldn't take.

He glanced back up at the blond and red head in front of him. They had been through their own fair share of battles. Rory had died so much, he didn't know if he could come back from the next one.

Amy had devoted too much of her life too him. She had believed in him when she shouldn't have.

They were precious cargo that he wasn't sure that he could live through losing again. "What do you mean by no?" Amy said laughing slightly trying to believe what he had just said was a joke.

"No, Amelia, no unknown planet, no abandoned spaceship, no alien infested asteroid." Her smile was almost gone now as she looked doubtfully at him.

"No? Are we going back in time then? We could visit Einstein or oh we could go visit the renaissance, see some art!" She tried to force a smile onto her face.

"Amy, I can't. I…" he shook his head looking hard at the console, not sure that he could look at her. He flipped the final lever and walked slowly to the door. He pushed it open slowly to reveal what was outside.

"This, this a joke right? You're joking." He sighed shaking his head staring down at the floor.

"Amy, your families think you're dead. You have to tell them, you have to live your lives with the people who love you and who you love."  
She glanced out the door again, looking at the home she thought she wouldn't ever see again. "But we love you, can't we live our lives with you?"


	45. Chapter 45

"Doctor," she whispered the first thing she had said since he left. John looked down at her eyes filled with worry.

"Yes Rose?" He asked. His arm ached from holding up the umbrella but he didn't want to let go of it or let go of her. She still had her arms wrapped around him her head still pressed against his chest.

"Tell me about…about when you first met me." She said so quietly that he barely heard her.

"Well, a long time ago I was in the basement of a shop. I was just minding my business honestly when I ran into this girl," he closed his eyes and he saw it again.

She was standing there completely scared to death. No one was supposed to be here. The building was supposed to be empty. He was just supposed to go in and stop the plastic and then blow it up. But there she was this young, beautiful, terrified blonde.

"And then I took the girls hand and I told her to run, because there were these shop dummies chasing her."

She had been surrounded by the living plastic. Completely surrounded, and for some reason he couldn't leave her there, he had killed all of the time lords but yet, he could leave this one girl to die.

He walked up slowly so that they wouldn't notice him. He was next to her now. He reached out and took her hand and told her, _"run,"_ and for some reason she did.

"And then I escaped with this girl, and for some reason she was still holding onto one of their arms, still don't know why she took that with her." He glanced down at her she was still silent but she had stopped crying and was listening intently.

"And then I blew up her work and she went home and I went back to the Tardis." He had never expected to see her again. He shouldn't have, but he had and that had somehow led him here, to be holding her in the rain. "And that's the first time I met Rose Tyler."

"Thank you," she whispered, "I'm cold," she said realizing for the first time how soaked she was on this cool summer night.

"Let's go inside then. Huh?" She nodded slowly as she let him lead her into the house. He walked her to the doorway, putting down the umbrella and opening the door for her.

Martha was already prepared for them. As soon as they stepped inside she wrapped towels around both of them and had Mickey pour them cups of tea.

They sat down on the sofa. He was still holding onto her. She held her tea in-between her hands warming them.

Mickey and Martha sat down across from them. They sat in silence for several minutes and Rose was the first to break it. "Where's Jack?" She asked noticing for the first time that the captain had yet to show his face since the Doctor and the Ponds had left.

"Oh," Martha said, "he left already. He figured that you needed time alone and he had something that he needed to do for work or something, I think." Rose nodded, for a man that would live for a very, very long time he wasn't very patient.

Rose looked over at John, he was still holding onto her while trying to drink his tea. "Doctor, should we be going now then?"

He looked at her and nodded, "yeah, I suppose it's time we did."

* * *

They stood in front of their door saying goodbye. Rory shook his head somehow wondering if this was all truly happening again. "Don't forget to come and visit us again Doctor."

The Doctor grinned slightly and looked up at him, "never Rory. I'll see you two soon." He nodded and then gave the Doctor a hug. He had been through so much with this man it was hard to believe that they were separating yet again.

After letting go he turned around and walked into the house knowing that Amy needed time to be with the Doctor alone.

After Rory closed the door behind him the Doctor turned to face her. She was trying not to cry but she was doing a very bad job at it. "I'm going to miss you, you know that right?"

He nodded, "I'll miss you too Pond, but you have a life to live," he looked into the window where he could see Rory grabbing the phone and calling his dad, "and people to live it with."

"What about you, Doctor? What are you going to do?" He sighed and leaned against the Tardis.

"I went to Victorian London to brood, after we were separated. While I was there I met this girl. Do you remember Oswin?"

"Oswin? You mean the girl who was a Dalek from the Dalek asylum?"

He nodded, "yes well I met this girl when I was there and she died, but Amy it was the same girl. I didn't realize it at first because she told me her name was Clara. Her full name was Clara Oswin Oswald."

"She died twice? The same girl twice dead."

"Yes, and I have to find her again. I know she's out there. I promised I'd take her with me, I gave her a key. I have to find her again, I know she's out there."

"Are you sure?" She asked shaking her head in disbelief."

"Positive." He answered no doubt in his voice.

"Good luck then Raggedy man." She said giving him a hug goodbye.

"I'll see you soon." He kissed her on the head and turned to leave.

"Doctor," she said before he closed the door. He turned around, sticking his head out of the Tardis, "when you find her, I want to meet her."

He nodded in agreement, "Will do Pond, will do," and with that he closed the door and the Tardis started to fade away.


	46. Chapter 46

They climbed into their Tardis together, waving back at the other pair of Smiths. He closed the door as she walked over to where she always sat, forcing a smile.

"Where are we going?" She asked as he started to put coordinates into the console.

"I was thinking we could move into our house again, but the thing is Martha made me promise to visit her in January so I don't think we move in for a while."

"Shouldn't we go and get the keys though? That man might be really confused if don't show up for seven months." She said as he nodded in agreement.

"Yes, let's go and pick up the keys from him and then we can move in half a year later. The neighbors will think we're crazy." The Tardis landed and he reached down and took her hand.

"Good, it'll be just like our old neighbors," he laughed as they walked out of the Tardis and up the steps to their house.

She knocked on the door and it was answered by the man they had met, what had been for him, three days ago.

"Oh good you're here! I wasn't sure when to expect you. But here's all the paperwork and the keys." He handed the stack to John and then handed the keys to Rose. "So I just need you to sign here, and here, and here. It's a good thing I'm an estate agent and I've already got this all with me."

John nodded signing the last space. After the paper work was all done they found themselves alone in their house. He smiled down at her as she genuinely smiled back, "Do you know what I want to do now?" She asked her tongue sticking out from her teeth.

"What?" he asked his foolish grin growing on his face.

"I," she put her hand onto his chest walking closer to him, dramatically pausing, "want to tear," she paused again her face inches away from his now, "down those horrendous curtains."

She walked past him giggling as she started to pull down the different colored curtains. "Rooooose," he whined walking over to her, grabbing her around the waist.

"What?" She asked glancing up at him, "did you want to take them down?"

* * *

"We'll I guess I've got some dishes to do." Martha said standing up and clearing the plates off of the Table.

"It's weird," Mickey said walking up behind her grabbing the cups.

"What is?" She pulled the dishwasher open and started to put them in.

"Our house felt so chaotic and crazy and now it's so quiet and peaceful and I honestly hate it."

She turned and looked at him, "I do too."

"Do you think you'd want it to be that chaotic like that again?" She took the cups from him and loaded them into the dish washer.

"Yeah, they're coming in December that's only half a year from now."

"But that's only for one day, would you ever want something more permanent."

"Do you mean like a family?" He nodded and she looked down thinking for a moment, "I'd love that," without another word she grabbed him in an enormous hug, "but in six months the Doctor errrrr…John saw me and I wasn't pregnant."

Surprised that Martha had agreed so quickly he took a minute to process everything, "we could wait a few months and then try. That way when he does come you're not showing yet."

"Alright," she agreed.

"Alright?" he asked still not believing everything that Martha had quickly agreed to.

"Yes," and she kissed him, she had been waiting for Mickey to decide that he was ready for this and finally he was.

* * *

Rory was on the phone. The day they had left with the Doctor to now had only been four days. She knew that the Doctor had visited Rory's father and told him about it after they had gotten stuck.

Knowing Rory's father he had probably wanted to wait a few weeks until he was sure that they really weren't coming back. For once her father in-laws doubts had paid off and not all of their loved one's thought that they were dead.

She stood up from where she was sitting in her favorite chair and walked outside grabbing the keys to their car. She had a crazy idea.

She got into the car and drove to where she knew it was. She climbed out and walked up to the door and knocked timidly. No one answered so she turned around started to walk back to the car. Before she reached the car the door swung open. "Sorry, I was feeding him and I couldn't—Amy?"

She turned back around to see Martha standing in the doorway holding a tiny baby in her arms. Mickey walked up behind her and Martha handed the little boy over to him.

Martha ran down the steps to her and grabbed the red head in a large embrace. "Amy I can't believe you're here! How are you?" Martha let her go and took a step back smiling at her. Amy beamed back.

"I—I think I'm okay, but Martha you have a baby, is he yours?"

She nodded, "yeah he is, his names Jonathan, John for short."

"John Smith?" Amy asked smiling happily at the name.

"We flipped a coin for who go to choose the name." Martha explained looking back at Mickey.

"Needless to say I lost." Mickey said looking at his wife.

"Good thing too, you would've named him Mickey Junior." Amy laughed, feeling like she had part of her new family back.


	47. Chapter 47

"We should go move in." John said as they walked out their home.

"I'm not excited about all of the dust that'll be there when we get back."

"Well we both know that I'll probably be the one that'll clean it all up." She nodded in agreement grinning as they walked into their Tardis. "Well, let's go to January then." He pulled a switch and the Tardis lurched forward.

Merely seconds after walking into the Tardis from when it was a sunny summer day, where the birds had been chirping and children had been playing in the street, they walked out into the snow. It was night time and the wind was blowing. She walked out first glancing up at the falling snow. He took his coat off and put it over her noticing her shaking. "Do you know what this reminds me of?" She asked as he walked next to her and grabbed her hand.

"Hmmmm what's that?" He started to swing their hands back and forth unconsciously as she looked back at him.

"It reminds of when you just regenerated and I didn't know if you still wanted me to travel with you and you didn't know if I still wanted to travel with you."

"Yeah, it does remind me of that you're right but we have a better adventure in front of us than New New York."

"We do?" She looked at her husband; she loved him more than anything. He was the person she wanted to stay with forever. If the time lord Doctor had made her choose, to go with him and leave John behind or to stay with John she knew what she would have chosen. She would've chosen John.

"We have our lives in front of us. Our lives together, forever," he ran up the stairs dragging her behind him, "in this house we get to have our family." She smiled at him enormously, at this moment she wasn't sure if she could ever be happier.

"You see this pathway Rose? Our son will learn how to ride his bike on this. And the grass underneath this snow, our daughter will take her first steps on that grass. And this gnome Rose do you see this gnome? Your husband will smash this gnome because he hates it," she laughed as he pulled the door open and picked her up and carried her across the threshold.

He didn't set her down as he continued to walk through the house. "Do you see that window? Our son will break his first window with a ball through that. And Oooooh look at this carpet! Your cat, and I do mean your cat, will pee on that very carpet."

He sat her down softly and then ran up the stairs after grabbing her hand again. "Rose do you see this bedroom?" He said pointing to one of the guest rooms, "our daughter will sleep her first night out of the hospital here, and I'll sit in a chair right here," he walked into the room pointing at a random spot on the ground, "and watch her sleep because I'll be too scared to leave her alone."

He turned around and then ran across it the other guest room that in their other house had been his office. "And in this room Rose we'll read books to our son, books about animals and spaceships and cowboys and aliens oh so many books about spaceships and aliens.

"Oh and down here is whe—" Rose stopped him by putting her hand over his mouth, her smile enormous.

"Doctor, thank you."

"Thank you? For what?" He asked after she moved her hand off of his mouth.

"For this," she said gesturing around her, "for everything, for you," she kissed him softly and then hugged him and decided to not let go.

"Rose Marion Tyler Smith I'm the thankful one." And he bent down and picked her up and carried her from their empty house back to their Tardis.

* * *

He walked into the Tardis after saying goodbye to the Ponds. He went to leave so that he could find Clara, but something stopped him. He needed to know how they turned out, if everything would be okay for them.

He ran into the wardrobe grabbing something he could spy on them in. He grabbed a baseball cap, t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of trainers. He stopped for a moment when he chose the trainers chuckling to himself, his past regeneration would've approved of these.

He changed and then ran back into the main room of the Tardis grabbing a jacket before he left. He started to set the coordinates, he hit a switch and pulled a lever and the police box shook.

He opened the door, he was on Ponds street. It had been five years since he had dropped them off. He walked back into the Tardis and flipped a switch making it invisible; his disguise wouldn't be of much use if they saw the police box.

He stepped out and started to walk up the opposite side of the street. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw their house, barely able to believe who was knocking on their door.


	48. Chapter 48

He leaned against the street lamp looking at their house. He watched the small family hop up the stairs. There were two little boys with them, one was around five and the other was three.

The five year old tugged on Mickey's jacket trying to get his attention as Mickey pressed the bell. The three year old held Martha's hand tightly glancing up at his Mother, who was carrying what looked like a plastic bag with salad inside of it.

The door swung open as he saw Amy and Rory welcome the family in. Amy reached down and picked up the three year old boy swinging him around in the air.

The five year old ran into the house past the Ponds, seemly perfectly at home. The rest of the family followed afterwards and the door closed behind them.

He stood up from where he was leaning and walked across the street. He glanced around him making sure that no one saw him. He ran up to the window, hiding behind of one of the bushes.

He could see the dining room from where he was crouching. The Smiths walked in, taking the jackets off of themselves and their kids. They all sat down to the table as Amy sat a casserole down in the middle of the table.

Amy and Rory sat at the head of the table while Martha sat next to Mickey on one side of the table and their kids sat across them. The five year old yanked on Rory's sleeve and started to talk to him as Amy stood up to get something from the kitchen.

* * *

"Oh stop barking I'll let you out." Amy said as she walked over to the gated area where they kept their dog. He was a golden retriever and they had named him Doctor. At first his name had been a joke until they thought of a proper one, but for some reason Doctor had ended up sticking.

The time lord had visited them several times after they had gotten the dog and each time they had referred to him as Sam and just suggested that he didn't know its own name. The dog, however, did know his name.

Doctor bolted out the laundry room and into the dining room in search of table scraps. She turned around and pulled the pie out of the oven and sat it down on the counter, turning off the timer. It had become a weekly thing for the families to have dinner together every Sunday night. It was something that she had grown to look forward to.

She walked back into the dining room and noticed that the dog was pacing back in forth by the window whining. "What's wrong with him?" She asked sitting down looking over at Rory.

"I don't know. Maybe there's something out there?"

"No," Amy said shaking her head, "he'd been barking if something was out there."

* * *

The Doctor ducked behind the window as soon as the dog saw him. "Shhhhh go away!" The Doctor whispered in a hushed voice. The dog whined as the time lord tried to shoo him away. "Well I don't care if you want to play I don't want them to see me. Can't you see that I'm trying to spy on them?" The Dog whined again and started to paw at the window, "No, I'm not going to play with you right now, maybe next time, now shoo!"

* * *

Amy watched as the dog immediately stopped whining and ran out of the room. She shrugged and walked over to the window and glanced out. She didn't see anything. Maybe Doctor had seen a squirrel or something. She walked back over to the table and sat down.

"Thanks for inviting us over again Amy." Martha said as they all started to eat.

"Oh anytime, and I can't believe how big Jackson is! I swear it's only been a week but he seems like he's grown so much!"

Martha nodded, "yeah he eats so much, more than Jonathan did when he was Jackson's age. Speaking of children have you talked to River recently?"

* * *

The Doctor watched as the two families ate dinner together. Satisfied that both families were okay he started to make his way back to the Tardis. When he finally made it back Amy's dog was sitting in front of the invisible police box.

"What? How'd you find the Tardis? It's on stealth mode." The Doctor said surprised to find the dog. The dog barked and the Doctor let out a sigh, "right, of course you smelled it. Now come on, go back to Amy uh—what ever your name is."

The dog let out another bark in reply, "Doctor? Really? Oh Amelia Pond of course you would name a dog after me. Jackie wouldn't name Tony after me, but I guess a dog is something. Well then Doctor go back home." Doctor let out a whine and looked up at the time lord with puppy eyes. "Fine, you can come with me on this one trip, but then I'm taking you straight home. Okay?"

The Doctor opened the door to the Tardis and the dog ran in sat down in the chair next to the console. "Well, you seem to be quite at home here don't you?"


	49. Chapter 49

"Alright we're here; you'll need a leash though." He said turning to look at the dog, who had disappeared. "DOCTOR! Where are you?" He yelled into the hallway. It had been one minute. One minute and he had wandered off.

That had to be a record, but then again he was Amy's dog. "DOCTOR, oh there you are!" The golden retriever padded back into the room, carrying a leash in his mouth. "Right, thanks," he said taking the leash from the dog and attaching it to Doctor's collar.

"Well let's go then." He put the baseball cap on and pulled the hood from his jacket over his head. They stepped outside of the Tardis into a park.

He took a deep breath and tried to pretend like he was just walking his dog on any other Sunday. He saw them at the playground. He quickly fished a newspaper out of the trash and sat down on a bench, Doctor sat next to him, panting slightly, as he pretended to read the sports section.

He watched them and couldn't help but wish he was there. That he was the one on the playground with them.

* * *

She sat on the ground just outside of the playground on an old blue quilt. Her legs were folded in front of her because her stomach was so large she couldn't tuck them in front of her anymore.

"Doctor! Be careful don't let her go on that enormous slide by herself." She said watching John run around the playground with their three year old daughter clutching to his hand.

He glanced back at her, "Rose, she's fine I promise." He said as he climbed up the slide behind her, enjoying it more than she was.

"Just be careful with her." She smiled as she watched her daughter sit in Johns lap and the two slid down the slide together. He was almost too wide to fit into the slide but they both made it down, her daughter laughing the entire way down.

After they reached the ground, Rose beckoned them over, "Come here Lynn. Mommy wants you to eat the pear she packed you for lunch." Jacqueline, who was named after the grandmother she never knew, ran over to her mother, her short blond curls falling in her face.

"Rose, why do you have to poison our daughter?" John said plopping down on the blanket next to her. He reached into Rose's bag and pulling out a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

"She like's pears," Rose shrugged handing their daughter the fruit. John reached into the bag again and pulled out a banana and waved in front of Jacqueline's face.

"Lynn, wouldn't you like a banana better than a yucky pear?" The three year old scrunched her face at the yellow fruit.

"Banana's are squishy." She took a bite of the pear and brushed a blond curl out of her face. She walked over to where Rose was sitting and sat down in between her legs.

John rubbed his hand over his face and looked up at his daughter. She was obviously his; they had the same eyes and she was incredibly brilliant. "She's your daughter." He said to Rose as he watched in disgust as Jacqueline took a large bite from a pear.

"Oh, Doctor!" Rose said picking up his hand and placing it on her stomach, "he's kicking again." Johns face changed instantly to one of wonder and joy.

Jacqueline put her half eaten pear into John's hand who was too distracted by the little boy inside of Rose's stomach to realize what had just been put in his hand. The little girl turned around and pressed her sticky hands onto Rose's stomach and then pressed her ear against it.

"Is that my brother in your tummy mommy?" She said looking up at Rose, who smiled down at her.

"Yes baby, that's your brother Peter." The little girl nodded and brushed another curl out of her hair.

"Oh yuck! Lynn what did you put in my hand!" John said standing up throwing the pear from his hand onto the grass.

"Daddy!" The girl whined, "You got my pear dirty." John glanced at the sad toddler.

"It's okay you can have a banana instead!" He said handing her the fruit. The girl examined it and then gently handed it back to him. She walked over to Rose's bag and pulled out a kite.

"Can I fly it?" She asked looking at John.

"Well, Daddy has to finish eating his lunch first. You can try to fly it by yourself for now and I'll help you after I'm done." The girl nodded and grabbed the kite. She ran around them, trying to get it to fly. Suddenly a burst of wind blew the kite up but she couldn't keep her grip on the string and it flew in to the air, over to where it crashed in front of the bench where the Doctor and Doctor were sitting.

"I'll get it," She said running after the kite. John turned around and watched her as she ran the short distance across the grassy field to where the kite had landed. He started to stand up to follow after her, until Rose grabbed his arm.

"You know who that is right?" She asked as her husband sat back down. He shook his head as he put his glasses on so he could see the man in the baseball cap more clearly. "I'll give you a hint, that's Amy's dog and that's not Rory."

"Ooooh, that's…"

"He's trying to spy on us." She said chuckling to herself as they watched the brave little blond girl venture her way over to the time lord who had her kite at his feet.


	50. Chapter 50

She ran up to him, her hair falling in her face as she did so. She picked up the kite that was at his feet. Kite in hands she looked at the man in front of her. "I like your dog." She said walking over to the golden retriever and petting him.

He looked down at Jacqueline, she looked just like Rose. She had the same nose, smile, and hair. At the same time her eyes were just like Johns. And because of the fact that John and the Doctor had the same eyes, her eyes were just like his too, except for their dark brown color that she got from her father.

"Thank you, he's not mine though." He said still covering his face with the newspaper. She was one of the most unique and beautiful little girls he had seen. He studied her as she petted the dog next to him.

"I know, he belongs to my aunt. Does she know that you have her dog?" She looked him in the eyes as he took a large gulp.

"How old are you?" He asked changing the conversation.

"I'm three," she said holding her free hand up to show him the correct amount of fingers. He sat the newspaper down and stared at the girl in front of him.

"You're very clever for being three." He said tapping her on the nose.

"Are you my uncle?"

"Your uncle?" He asked as she stopped petting the dog and turned her full attention to the time lord.

"Yes, my uncle looks like you but he wears bowties and funny hats. He likes to play games with me too."

"Do you see your uncle a lot then?" He asked the toddler, who had somehow managed to wriggle her way into his lap.

"Sometimes, he comes on special days, like my birthday and Christmas."

"Do you like him?" he asked as she crawled back down from his lap. She nodded at him and then placed the fallen kite in his lap.

"Yes, I like you, especially when you help me fly my kite."

"I don't know if your parents would like a stranger playing with their daughter." He said. She glanced back at the couple on the blanket.

"No, they know who you are. See," she picked his hand up and made him wave it at the couple. They waved back, both smiling.

"Of course they do." She grabbed his hand and started to attempt to pull him up. She looked at him and batted her eyes, trying to convince him with her sad face. Something, no doubt, she had learned from her mother.

He stood up sighing; he had been caught by a toddler and a kite. He pulled his hood down and took the baseball cap he was wearing off. She took his hand and led him to the middle of the field, "do you want to hold the kite or the string when we run?"

* * *

Rose stared at her small daughter as she sat down in the Doctors lap. Her hand gripped firmly on John's arm, squeezing it nervously. She saw her scramble back down onto the grass. "Rose, relax." John said noticing how concerned his wife looked.

They saw the Doctor wave over at them and they waved happily back. The small girl forced him onto his feet as she started to run with the string in her hands the time lord running behind her kite in hands. "Look she got him to run." She laughed looking at her husband.

He chuckled at the funny sight of the Doctor running behind their daughter trying to get the kite to fly, Amy's dog chasing after him also, "something about the Tyler woman, they make time lords chase after them."

She flashed a smile at John, "how young do you think he is?" she asked.

"Young, I think this is after he just left Amy and Rory."

"So this is right before he goes to find Clara?" She said in awe as he nodded, "that means this is the first time he's met Lynn?"

"The way it looks, she's making quite the impression." He said as the kite flew into the air.

* * *

The kite flew above her as she held the string tightly. A winded time lord stood behind her looking up at the kite. "Can you pick me up so I can be higher?" She asked glancing at him. He did so kissing her on the head before he placed her on his shoulders.

She rested her chin on his head arms above her as she stared at the kite. "I like the sky." She said looking down at the Doctor.

"You do?" He asked her as he stared up at the kite also.

"Yes, I think it's prettier from space though." He chuckled.

"It's pretty from here though." She was quiet but could tell that she nodded in agreement.

"Do you have a Tardis like my mommy and daddy do?" She asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Good, one day I want to travel with you like my mommy did."

"You can travel with your parents though."

"Yes, but I want to travel with you too, you get in more trouble."

"Trouble's bad though." He said taking the small girl down from his shoulders.

"Not when it's fun." She said looking at him.

"You're right." He thought for a moment, what it would be like to travel with Jacqueline when she was older, to travel with his niece, since in a way he was her uncle. "Go back to your mommy. I'll see you sometime soon." He said tapping her on the nose again.

"Okay." She said running back to her parents. He smiled as she left. She was a clever girl that reminded him that he had another clever girl to find. One named Clara.

He turned back around and saw the golden retriever behind him. He had one more stop, however, before he could go and find the impossible girl.


	51. Chapter 51

"Alright, back home with you," he said opening the door of the Tardis as the golden retriever ran out the door and back up the street to the Ponds house.

He was about to close the door to leave when he stopped himself. He couldn't leave like this, he needed one more look, one more glance. He left the Tardis, hoping that the dark would be enough to disguise the ship. The wind was cold. It was later at night now and the stars were out. As he walked up to the house he could still see them through the window.

He crouched below the window sill staring at the families. To his surprise it was no longer just the Ponds and the Smiths but John had also joined them. They all sat around the table. There were only six of them in the room now, Martha, Mickey, Jackson, Rory, Amy, and John. They sat around the table eating pie deep in conversation.

He looked at them all smiling and laughing. They were all truly happy. He turned around to go back to the Tardis.

* * *

"He thinks that we don't know he's out there doesn't he?" Amy asked. They all knew that the Doctor was just outside of the window spying on them. He couldn't hide from the people that knew him the best.

John leaned back in his chair. He held Jackson asleep in his arms. Jonathan and Jacqueline were both already asleep on the couch. Jackson however had wanted John to read him a story. So he did and the boy quickly fell asleep in his arms.

"He tried to spy on us earlier when we were in the park." John said picking the boy up and walking towards the couch where the others were asleep. He laid the boy down next to the other two covering the three children with a blanket.

"Oh?" Amy asked, "How did that go?"

John chuckled to himself as he came back to his chair at the table, "Lynn made him fly her kite." The group broke into laughter.

"Yeah, I can picture that." Mickey said taking a sip from his tea.

"You should have seen her. That girl, she's got confidence." John said shaking his head.

Martha grinned, "hmmm wonder where she gets that."

"Her mother, most definitely her too brave for her own good mother." John said taking the final bite of his pie.

"Speaking of Rose," Rory said looking around, "where is she?"

* * *

"You always do park in the same place," Rose said as the time lord walked back to the Tardis.

"Rose, I—how'd you know?" He asked walking over to the very pregnant girl sitting on the bench next to his Tardis.

"First off you left the brakes on so we all heard it," he groaned and hit himself in the forehead. "Sit with me please, before you go." She patted the empty spot next to her on the bench inching over.

"Are you cold?" He asked her as he sat down, glancing at her.

"Oh not really," he took the scarf he had been wearing off and wrapped it around her neck.

"Better?" She nodded. "So you have quite the daughter. Did you know that?" Rose laughed her eyes shining.

"Yeah, she's something. Did you know that she loves pears?"

"Really?" he asked grinning, "how does John feel about that?"

"Oh he hates it; he's trying to convert her into a banana lover like himself. It's not going so well."

"Why are you here Rose?" He asked his smile fading as he stopped the small talk.

"I wanted to say goodbye and that I'll miss you and oh!" She grabbed his hand and placed it onto her stomach as she felt kicking.

The Doctor's grin grew back immediately. "What's his name?"

"Peter, and you met Jacqueline earlier."

"Jackie and Pete?"

"Yeah, they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my parents. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for them. Who knows what you'd be like if you hadn't met me." She leaned against shoulder, smiling.

"Who knows, I might still be wearing leather jackets and I probably would've still had those ears." He put his hands up to his own ears pulling them out so they seemed larger.

"Hey, those ears were fantastic." She said smiling.

"Rose, I never said thank you."

"For what?" She said looking up at him.

"For making me who I am, if you hadn't come along…who knows…You made me who I am. You helped me Rose. I was selfish when I took you with me; I wanted to show off, I wanted to see the wonder through your eyes. I don't regret it though. I'll never regret you Rose."

"Me neither." She grinned at him her tongue poking out from her teeth as he had seen it do hundreds of times before. "I would never change it, even if I had the choice, but you have to go. Clara's out there, you have to find her again."

Rose stood up slowly and walked over to the Tardis with him. She gave his a large hug goodbye. He opened the door and stepped inside. He turned back around to see her.

He cupped her face with his hand and looked into the eyes he had memorized years before. "You're my best friend Rose Tyler."

"You're my best friend too Doctor."


	52. Author's note

**Wow, I can't believe that I finally finished! I don't think could have ever done it without you guys. I hope you guys liked it, I spent a lot of time on this and it's a story that I really love.**

**If you liked it I would love it if you would give it a review! It would mean EVERYTHING to me, and I do mean everything. Please, please, please if you have a few free seconds just let me know what you thought about it.**

**I know that I have reread some of the sections and I've winced at the typos I made. I'm so sorry that you guys had to suffer through that. Please let me know what you thought. Let me know if it was really worth reading.**

**You guys have been amazing through everything. Thanks again for reading this. You guys are incredible!**

**-Elizabeth **

**P.S. Just in case you did not know I have started a prequel for this story.**

**It can be found here: s/9316249/1/**

**Thanks so much for following my story!**


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